The South Korean government is considering expanding its media law to regulate Internet companies publishing news stories on their websites, Korea Times reports. There has been a lengthy debate among Internet companies and print media over the boundaries of web-based journalism, with the offline news outlets demanding their online rivals should be bound by the same legal framework.
The country’s Culture Ministry is looking to rewrite the current media law and define Internet companies as news corporations. The ministry will hold a public hearing on the issue on 17 August and discuss it with the cabinet before announcing the draft of the new media law sometime next month.
The websites of offline newspapers will also be regulated under the new law, a ministry spokesman said. “With their growing influence, it is reasonable that Internet portals should carry the same public responsibility as other news outlets. It is important that they be regulated under the law for press arbitration,” he said.
As more people use Internet portals and search engines rather than TV and newspapers as their main news source, there has been a growing debate on whether Internet companies should be regulated under media law. However, Internet companies had been balking at calls for stronger self-regulation, insisting they should not be asked to carry the same weight of responsibility as traditional media outlets as they do not create news stories themselves but only publish articles bought from corporate partners.
(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)
