Domestic digital industry regulations are failing to adequately reflect technological changes and industrial structures, negatively impacting businesses, according to a new analysis. The Online Platform Act in particular has created growing business uncertainty as discussions have dragged on since the first bill was introduced in 2020.
The Korea Internet Corporations Association (KICA) on Thursday released the "2025 Internet Industry Regulation White Paper," analyzing Korea's digital industry and regulatory environment. KICA selected 273 digital regulation bills introduced during the first year of the 22nd National Assembly and evaluated their regulatory levels. These included 225 amendment bills and 48 new legislation proposals.
The white paper scored the bills based on criteria including systematicity, legitimacy, industrial ecosystem compatibility, and regulatory operational effectiveness. The analysis found that four pieces of legislation—the E-Commerce Act, Online Platform Act, Information and Communications Network Act, and Telecommunications Business Act—had the lowest regulatory design completeness scores.
Among E-Commerce Act bills, 22 of 27 (81.5%) were classified in the low-scoring group with 25 points or below. For the Online Platform Act, 14 of 18 bills (77.8%) scored 25 points or below, followed by the Information and Communications Network Act with 26 of 55 bills (65.5%), and the Telecommunications Business Act with 20 of 31 bills (64.5%). KICA noted that "these four pieces of legislation cite consumer protection and fair competition as justifications, but fail to adequately reflect the complex transaction structures of platform, data, and AI environments."
The prolonged debate over the Online Platform Act—now exceeding five years—has led industry players to view it as a major business risk. Corporate officials stated in the white paper that "new projects and service improvements are being designed conservatively or decision-making is being delayed repeatedly because the legislation has not been finalized," and that "R&D personnel and legal resources are being prioritized for regulatory compliance, pushing new service development and technological innovation that could enhance core competitiveness to the back burner."
"The internet industry has established itself as an important growth foundation for the Korean economy in terms of revenue and employment," said Park Sung-ho, chairman of KICA. "A policy environment that harmonizes innovation and market development is needed."
Meanwhile, domestic internet industry revenue reached 718.8 trillion won ($529 billion) in 2024, up 9.0% year-on-year. This represents approximately 28% of Korea's nominal GDP. The number of internet industry workers during the same period increased 9.2% year-on-year to 2.167 million.