Aug. 17 (UPI) — South Korean lawmakers of the main and opposition parties disagreed on revisions to a media law that includes stiffer penalties against news organizations, as critics decried the pending amendment as an attack on press freedoms.
South Korea’s parliamentary Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee submitted to the Agenda Coordination Committee the revision to the Act of Press Arbitration despite resistance from the political opposition, Yonhap reported Tuesday.
The bill, known as the “fake news” law locally, would allow plaintiffs to sue for five times the actual damages, including for emotional distress incurred by inaccurate media reports.
The Culture Committee held three plenary meetings since last week to reach a consensus among lawmakers on the revised media bill. South Korean politicians were unable to narrow their differences, however, the report said.
The governing Democratic Party holds a majority in parliament, and the Democrats lead the Agenda Committee, making it likely the media bill will pass at the National Assembly.
South Korea’s Democrats have said that they plan to pass the legislation in August, but opposition conservatives of the People Power Party have said the bill’s provisions are “toxic,” according to the report.
The law is designed to protect plaintiffs against misinformation, and against “false or manipulated reports” that are the result of intention to deceive or “gross negligence,” according to the Korea Herald.
Lawyers are condemning the bill, however. The Korean Bar Association issued a statement Tuesday expressing disapproval, Newsis reported.
The bar association said that the law discourages journalists from publishing articles critical of the government. The watchdog role of the media will “inevitably shrink,” the group said.
Seoul could be trying to reassure news organizations.
President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday in a message to the Journalists Association of Korea that freedom of the press is the “pillar of democracy.”
Moon also said on the occasion of the group’s 57th anniversary that the press environment is encountering new challenges to accurate reporting amid digitization, News 1 reported Tuesday.
Powerful South Korean politicians have sued local newspapers. In July, former Justice Minister Cho Kuk filed a $900,000 lawsuit against the Chosun Ilbo for a cartoon that featured figures bearing a likeness to his family.