By Chung Hyun-chae
The Constitutional Court will review the constitutionality of the law that obliges mobile service operators to block child pornography.
The Suwon District Court said Sunday that a judge dealing with the case of former Daum Kakao head Lee Sirgoo sought a constitutional appeal on Friday against an article of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse.
Lee was indicted last November on charges of negligence in allowing child pornography to be shared on Kakao Group, a mobile group messaging service, when he headed Kakao Corp. before the company merged with Daum Communication.
This was the first case in which the head of a mobile service operator has been held criminally liable for spreading child pornography.
“Kim Young-hwan, the presiding judge of the case, decided to request the Constitutional Court’s decision to find out whether the article violates freedom of expression and communication, which may impact sentencing,” a Suwon court official said.
The current law states that mobile service operators can face up to three years in prison or up to a 20 million won fine if they fail to take appropriate measures to detect child pornography and prevent its spread.
“Despite the good purpose of the law, forcing mobile service operators to ‘detect’ pornography and ‘take measures’ means that the operators should control and monitor users, and this could violate freedom of expression,” the official said.
He also pointed out that the law may restrict the freedom to do business.
“The subject of the law is too broad and unclear, so the law may unduly restrict people’s basic rights,” he said. “It could also be used as a means of putting businesses under government control because the law can be interpreted arbitrarily.”
The district court will make a decision on Lee after the Constitutional Court ruling comes out. Earlier in May, the prosecution ordered him to pay 10 million won in fines.