Court Cancels Naver Fine Over 'Video Algorithm Distortion'

Court: "Cannot Be Subject to Fine Imposition"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] A court ruling has ordered the cancellation of part of the Fair Trade Commission's corrective order and fine imposed on Naver regarding the 'video algorithm manipulation' case.

The Administrative Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Ham Sang-hoon, Kwon Soon-yeol, and Pyo Hyun-duk) ruled on the 9th that Naver partially won the lawsuit against the Fair Trade Commission seeking cancellation of the corrective order and fine payment order.

The Fair Trade Commission imposed a corrective order and a fine of 200 million KRW on Naver in 2020, alleging that Naver distorted search results by giving extra points to its own videos and not actively informing competitors about the search algorithm revision.

In response, Naver filed an administrative lawsuit in 2021, arguing, "The Fair Trade Commission had already provided detailed information about important matters to the businesses, and the operation of the Theme Hall was a means to provide high-quality service."

The court ruled that the failure to inform about the algorithm revision cannot be subject to a fine and ordered the cancellation of that part of the disposition. However, the court upheld the Fair Trade Commission's decision, stating that Naver's act of giving extra points only to videos in the Naver TV Theme Hall was "an unfair act of attracting customers."