By Yoon Sung-won
The government's regulations governing digital content came under criticism after the national Internet content watchdog reversed the shutdown of a local online cartoon service last week.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) blocked the website of adult webtoon service provider "Lezhin Comics" on March 24, arguing that part of the content is obscene.
But after increasing public criticism that it was an excessive prohibition, the commission lifted the blockade reversing its decision after only two days.
The commission said it withdrew the shutdown because it decided that it was not right to block the entire website, even though part of its content included obscene images of genitals or sexual intercourse.
A non-profit organization, Open Net, said the act of the KCSC was against the law which "provides the subject with prior notice and an opportunity to state its opinion."
The KCSC did not notice its request ― the blockade in this case ― to the cartoon company, nor did it hear the company's counterargument, according to Open Net.
"The law's purpose is to make the KCSC pay attention to the subject's opinion before determining illegality," Open Net said. "The KCSC has arbitrarily interpreted exceptional clauses (in this case)."
Lezhin Comics has argued that it has provided adult content through an age-authentication system, thus following the law. The company also said that the commission did not give advance notice that it was blocking the website.
The company was established in 2013 as a pay for access webtoon service and has more than 7 million subscribers. With its market success, Lezhin Comics was cited by the government as a good example of the "creative economy," a key objective of the Park Geun-hye administration, and it won several awards here.
Open Net said that the KCSC cannot avoid criticism because it did not follow its own deliberation standards that websites are subject to blockage only when more than 70 percent of their content is illegal.
The organization pointed out that it is highly likely that many other websites and their content have been improperly regulated. The case involving Lezhin Comics can only be corrected because it was a popular service with many paid users, the organization said.
Rep. Yoo Seung-hee of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy also blasted the KCSC.
"It is clearly illegal that the commission neglecting the legal procedures to block the connection (to the website) for the obscene parts of its content," Yoo said in a statement. "It is a serious threat to the freedom of expression by the national authorities."
The government's regulations governing digital content came under criticism after the national Internet content watchdog reversed the shutdown of a local online cartoon service last week.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) blocked the website of adult webtoon service provider "Lezhin Comics" on March 24, arguing that part of the content is obscene.
But after increasing public criticism that it was an excessive prohibition, the commission lifted the blockade reversing its decision after only two days.
The commission said it withdrew the shutdown because it decided that it was not right to block the entire website, even though part of its content included obscene images of genitals or sexual intercourse.
A non-profit organization, Open Net, said the act of the KCSC was against the law which "provides the subject with prior notice and an opportunity to state its opinion."
The KCSC did not notice its request ― the blockade in this case ― to the cartoon company, nor did it hear the company's counterargument, according to Open Net.
"The law's purpose is to make the KCSC pay attention to the subject's opinion before determining illegality," Open Net said. "The KCSC has arbitrarily interpreted exceptional clauses (in this case)."
Lezhin Comics has argued that it has provided adult content through an age-authentication system, thus following the law. The company also said that the commission did not give advance notice that it was blocking the website.
The company was established in 2013 as a pay for access webtoon service and has more than 7 million subscribers. With its market success, Lezhin Comics was cited by the government as a good example of the "creative economy," a key objective of the Park Geun-hye administration, and it won several awards here.
Open Net said that the KCSC cannot avoid criticism because it did not follow its own deliberation standards that websites are subject to blockage only when more than 70 percent of their content is illegal.
The organization pointed out that it is highly likely that many other websites and their content have been improperly regulated. The case involving Lezhin Comics can only be corrected because it was a popular service with many paid users, the organization said.
Rep. Yoo Seung-hee of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy also blasted the KCSC.
"It is clearly illegal that the commission neglecting the legal procedures to block the connection (to the website) for the obscene parts of its content," Yoo said in a statement. "It is a serious threat to the freedom of expression by the national authorities."
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