Bills target hate speech, fake news amid controversy over Lee Jae-myung's son

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, gives a thumbs up while campaigning in Hanam in Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Newsis

Amid controversy surrounding the son of leading presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, liberal lawmakers are pushing to criminalize the creation and spread of hate speech and disinformation. This legislative drive has ignited a fierce debate over free expression ahead of the pivotal Tuesday presidential election.

One key proposal, recently introduced by Rep. Cho In-cheul and fellow Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) members, specifically aims to outlaw information deemed discriminatory against certain individuals or groups. This move signifies a potential shift in Korea's legal approach to public discourse, setting new boundaries in a society increasingly grappling with polarized narratives.

“The goal is to contribute to the establishment of a healthy internet culture by criminalizing information that justifies, promotes or reinforces discrimination against a particular group or its members on the basis of race, nationality, ethnicity, region, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion, occupation or disease,” the lawmakers said.

Another bill, proposed by 13 DPK lawmakers, seeks to punish people spreading information deemed false on online platforms.

“There has been a sharp rise in the number of cases of people creating and disseminating false and manipulated information for their own or third parties’ political or economic gain,” they said, adding that such activities should be banned to “avoid social disruption.”

This comes as the People Power Party (PPP) presidential campaign concentrates its efforts on highlighting controversies that could affect the electoral decisions of many voters, particularly women, ahead of the election.

During the May 27 televised debate, Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the minor conservative Reform Party asked, “If someone says they want to stick chopsticks in women’s genitals or some spot like that, is that misogyny?"

What he said was a refined version of what the DPK candidate’s son actually said online, for which he was convicted and fined 5 million won ($3,600) last year. Nevertheless, the Reform Party candidate has come under fire for using vulgar expressions on national TV.

After news articles surfaced detailing Lee Jae-myung's son's activities online, DPK officials announced plans to file criminal complaints against nine journalists who referenced his statements in their reports. The officials claimed the media coverage was “false and manipulated,” but did not specify which parts of the articles they disputed.

Critics say the DPK’s legislative measures and legal actions against reporters should be taken as warnings of what could happen under Lee as president.

“The bills are a classic authoritarian way of suppressing information inconvenient to those in power, controlling the media and silencing critics. We must stop Lee Jae-myung’s dictatorial censorship society,” Rep. Na Kyung-won, co-leader of PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo’s campaign team, said Sunday.

Scholars also expressed concern over the bills, which may clash with the Constitutional right to freedom of expression, and the liberal party’s repeated attempts to railroad their agenda at the National Assembly, where it holds a majority.

“Bills aiming to benefit certain people or groups could cause unintended consequences, as many cases in the past show. ... The proposed bills could severely curtail freedom of expression,” Lee Hyun-chool, professor of politics at Konkuk University in Seoul, told The Korea Times. “It is a legitimate concern that those bills could be approved unilaterally at the Assembly, given what the DPK has done as the majority party.”