South Korea’s liberal-led legislature passed a bill against traditional and online news outlets for publishing “false or fabricated information.” The bill authorizes substantial punitive damages targeting the news media and raises concerns about increased censorship.

The Conservative Party launched a filibuster, but the Democratic Party ended it 24 hours later and passed the bill with 170 votes in favour out of 177 members present.

The bill expands the scope of sanctions and the definition of unlawful content to include defamation, incitement to discrimination, and false information. The Democrats argue that the bill is intended to counter a growing threat of fake news and disinformation that, they contend, challenges democracy. The bill would allow courts to award up to five times the amount of proven losses in punitive damages.

Journalist groups and civil liberties advocates criticized the bill’s vague wording regarding the type of content covered and the lack of press protections. They urged President Lee to veto the bill to prevent any potential infringement on freedom of the press and of expression. Song Ji-Won, a representative attorney at the Communication Law Institute, said that the value of the information as a whole must be considered, as in some scenarios, an entire video may be taken down for a single untrue sentence.

After impeaching former President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024, the nation has experienced a stark ideological divide and a growing popularity of bizarre conspiracy theories among right-wing YouTubers who portray Yoon as a victim of the political left. Following the ideological battle, the online media has become polarized with a surge in hate speech and false information. The Democrats noted the necessity of regulating the spread of false and fabricated information and hate speech used to cause harm or seek profit. In the past month, Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted for allegedly covering up a military investigation, and another prominent ex-South Korean leader was also indicted for the martial law of December 2024, contributing to an unstable political climate.