Presidential Office: "Deliberation on Ruling Party's Bill to Regulate False and Manipulated Information Is Very Timely"

Statement from Presidential Office Spokesperson Lee Kyuyeon
On the Democratic Party's Discussions of the "Elimination of False and Manipulated Information Act"
"Hoping This Will Be a Turning Point to Eradicate False and Manipulated Information"

Lee Kyuyeon, Chief of Public Relations and Communication at the Presidential Office, is answering reporters' questions after a briefing related to the Chief Secretary and Aide Meeting presided over by President Lee Jae-myung on the 14th of last month at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Presidential Office has expressed its support for the Democratic Party-led discussions on legislation to eliminate false and manipulated information, calling it "a very timely measure."

On the 19th, Lee Kyuyeon, Chief of Public Relations and Communication at the Presidential Office, issued a statement saying, "We assess that the decision by the National Assembly, the media, and civil society to deliberate on a bill regulating false and manipulated information is a very timely measure," adding, "We hope that these discussions will serve as an opportunity to decisively eradicate false and manipulated information from our society."

The Democratic Party's Special Committee on Media Reform announced on the 18th that it would introduce a law to eliminate false and manipulated information. Initially, the Democratic Party had been discussing an amendment to the Press Arbitration Act, aiming for its passage before the Chuseok holiday. However, on the 11th, during a press conference marking his 100th day in office, President Lee Jaemyung stated, "Let's not single out the media," prompting a shift in strategy toward amending the Information and Communications Network Act.

Chief Lee stated, "The Democratic Party announced that it would unveil a draft amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act at an appropriate time and continue discussions with the media industry and civil society," adding, "Four media collaboration organizations issued a joint statement, positively evaluating the recognition of the need to refine the bill and the attention paid to concerns from the field about the potential weakening of government oversight and investigative reporting."

Chief Lee also emphasized, "The Democratic Party's Special Committee on Media Reform has decided to discuss with the media industry and civil society the abolition of the fairness review system and the introduction of measures to prevent strategic lawsuits against public participation, in order to guarantee freedom of the press and expression," adding, "We also welcome this, as it provides an opportunity to strongly expel false and manipulated information while eliminating excessive regulation of the press."