The People Power Party (PPP) has again urged President Lee Jae-myung to exercise his veto power over the revision to the Information and Communications Network Act, which the party has labeled a "public gag law."
Choi Eun-seok, chief spokesperson for the PPP, criticized the bill in a statement on Sunday. The revised act passed through the National Assembly plenary session on Saturday through a unilateral vote by the ruling bloc despite a filibuster attempt.
"The Democratic Party has appointed itself as judge, seeking to fundamentally block any reporting or information from being disclosed to the public if it does not suit their taste or conflicts with their political interests," Choi said.
The chief spokesperson pointed out that the revision allows the determination of false, manipulated, or illegal information based on arbitrary and vague standards. He noted that failure to comply with deletion requests under these criteria could result in punitive damages of up to five times the amount of losses.
"If information deemed false or illegal is distributed more than twice, the Korea Communications Standards Commission can impose fines of up to 1 billion won, and the scope of application is to be determined by presidential decree," Choi said. "Ultimately, this is a system where the Democratic Party effectively decides everything."
Choi raised his voice against the Democratic Party's pledge to pass a revision to the Press Arbitration Act early next year that would allow claims for counter-reports even against editorial opinions and columns, while shifting the burden of proving facts to media companies.
"Concerns are inevitably growing that the Democratic Party's tyranny is coming to resemble that of a leftist dictatorship," he said.
Addressing President Lee, Choi said, "You must exercise your veto power over this Information and Communications Network Act revision, along with the previously rammed-through law establishing a special court for insurrection cases."
"That is the only way to allay public concerns that the Republic of Korea is heading toward a leftist dictatorship and to prevent an era where criminals flourish," he added.
