The so-called 'fake news punishment law (amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.)' will be fully implemented this July. 

The so-called 'fake news punishment law (amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.)' will be fully implemented this July. 

In line with this, the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization (KISO), which includes Naver and Kakao, has released self-regulatory guidelines to block false and fabricated information. 

The justification of preventing AI deepfakes and eradicating malicious false information is quite smooth and polished. The measure to cleverly exclude personal messengers like KakaoTalk and email from the regulatory network, citing a desire to avoid private censorship controversies, is also shrewd.

However, if we peel back this wrapping paper and dryly dismantle the operating principles within, a picture of a truly bizarre and dangerous control society is revealed. We must read the deception of immense power hidden behind this word 'self-governance'.

First, let's break down the logical structure of 'large community image censorship,' which has been subtly inserted under the guise of preventing deepfakes and digital crimes. The words sound plausible. However, any person with common sense would burst into laughter at the sheer absurdity.

Would real criminals foolishly upload illegal manipulated content or deepfakes to large public communities frequented by millions? They have long since hidden in overseas closed messengers like Telegram or in their own secret, small-scale, decentralized communities to avoid thorough tracking.

Why meticulously scrutinize the bulletin boards of large communities when they cannot even touch real criminals who evade the police's investigative net? The purpose is clear. Crime prevention is just a flimsy excuse; in reality, it is to preemptively control the satirical memes and raw public opinion about power generated by ordinary citizens gathered in the public square.

It is a chilling maneuver, mimicking the act of catching bedbugs, while actually planting a surveillance camera in the center of the square to spy on citizens' daily lives.

The text censorship criteria for false and fabricated information they present is even more egregious. 'For the purpose of obtaining undue profit,' 'infringement of the personality rights of others,' and 'infringement of public interest.' Who exactly is the judge who can draw a clear line between truth and falsehood in such a swamp of abstract and subjective language?

It is neither the court nor the investigative agencies. It is the portal platform companies, private corporations pursuing their own interests. If the state were to directly suppress freedom of expression, it would be framed as dictatorship, so they have handed over the reins of censorship by borrowing the form of private contracts called 'terms of service' from large platforms. This is precisely the most sophisticated 21st-century form of 'outsourced censorship' devised by the left-wing regime.

It is obvious how this system, disguised as self-governance, will operate in reality. No platform wants to offend the sentiments of the ruling party, which occupies the majority in the National Assembly and frequently summons corporate executives to hearings for public shaming.

If a right-wing YouTuber or citizen raises suspicions of corruption against Lee Jae-myung, the platform will bundle it as 'infringement of the personality rights of others' or 'false and fabricated information' and immediately delete it or restrict its exposure. Conversely, the demonization and fabrications against the right-wing, poured out by left-wing speakers, will be generously tolerated under the names of 'freedom of expression' or 'satire.'

The government will stand by and try to shirk responsibility, saying, "The government has not infringed on individual freedoms, and the deletion of posts is the company's 'autonomous' decision." The vaguer the criteria, the more the company holding the reins will tend to lean towards power.

Looking back at the historical context, it's almost laughable. Who are the loudest voices calling for the strict crackdown on 'fake news' in South Korea today?

It is those who shouted about mad cow disease causing holes in the brain, profited from the theory of the Sewol ferry's deliberate sinking, and have built a mountain of colossal lies as breathlessly as they have from the cellist's drinking party to the recent 'salmon drinking party.'

Those who sprouted the seeds of power on the fertile soil of fake news are now trying to control the one-person media and common-sense speakers in the public square that prick at their own flaws. The first thing a fascist in power does is set up checkpoints on the path of the revolution they have trodden and muzzle others' mouths.

This flimsy control network, packaged under the pretext of crime prevention and fake news eradication, is the perfect embodiment of the 'Ministry of Truth' from George Orwell's novel.

The moment this legal 'mouth-gagging' is completed, using corporate terms of service as a weapon to monopolize truth, South Korea's public sphere of discourse will be reduced to a sterile chamber and prison where only text permitted by Lee Jae-myung and the left-wing regime floats around.

The sharpest sword that oppresses freedom always approaches with the most affectionate whisper: 'I will protect you from danger.'

◆ Writer Park Ju-hyun

Composer, music director, columnist, essayist. She actively expresses her opinions on political, current affairs, and social issues on Facebook, garnering empathy from many. She published the essay collection 'Crossing the Stormy Seas.'