SEOUL– A parliamentary committee on Thursday approved a controversial bill that would require an up to five-fold increase in penalties for media outlets spreading false or fraudulent news reports, defying resistance from opposition lawmakers and media industry trade groups.
The legislative proposal to revise the Act on Press Arbitration and Remedies, Etc. for Damage Caused by Press Reports passed through the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s plenary session at the initiative of the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
The DP committee members defied protesting opposition lawmakers to unilaterally push the bill through the chamber.
The bill will then go to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for a final review before being put to a final vote during a general meeting of the National Assembly. The DP, which holds an absolute majority, plans to get the bill through the assembly in a plenary session scheduled for Wednesday.
Spearheaded by the DP as part of its broader vision to “reform” the media, the bill aims to sharply increase the media’s responsibility for false or fake news.
The revision proposal primarily aims to multiply the level of punitive compensation rates for damage from the release of “deliberate” or “grossly negligent” false news reports by up to five-fold in a bid to curb dissemination of misleading news.
It will also require media outlets responsible for such news to publish corrections or eliminate problematic reports from news service.
The bill, however, is running into fierce resistance by opposition parties, including the People Power Party (PPP), and media organizations, which denounce it as an attempt to gag media outlets critical of the government and the ruling party ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Source: Yonhap News Agency