On September 16, the government said insulting comments about the current government in cyberspace were excessive. As a result, the prosecution and the police announced that they will monitor the Internet and mobile messenger services to stop cyber defamation and false information about the government from spreading. On September 18, the prosecution announced that they will establish an investigative team for cyber defamation, and they will prosecute people who spread false information. Now, investigative agencies can investigate and censor domestic Web sites and messenger services such as Naver, Daum, and Kakao Talk. The public is worried about their personal information because of cyber censorship.
After the government announced cyber censorship, Lee Seok-woo, who is the joint-CEO of Kakao Talk, held a press conference on October 13. He said Kakao Talk is not censored, but since 2013, they have provided investigative agencies with personal information. Although he announced that Kakao Talk won’t now provide the investigative agencies with personal information, the public are anxious and don’t trust domestic messenger services and Web sites because their personal information such as messages has already been provided to investigative agencies. However, investigative agencies cannot investigate foreign mobile messenger services and Web sites whose servers are abroad such as Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram. As a result, 1.5 million users of Kakao Talk moved to Telegram, which is a foreign messenger service.
When investigative agencies issue a warrant for cyber censorship, there are eavesdropping and search and seizure warrants. An eavesdropping warrant is to monitor the conversations of others in real time, and a search and seizure warrant is to get past data. Kakao Talk has provided information to investigative agencies when the investigative agencies issued an eavesdropping or a search and seizure warrant. However, Kakao Talk announced that now they will provide information only when there is a search and seizure warrant. Providing personal information to the prosecution and police is legal. However, it can also be an infringement of personal privacy. As the situation worsened, Kakao Talk announced they will introduce a privacy mode to enhance the security of personal information, but this solution cannot reduce the public’s anxiety.
In China, cyber censorship is severe. From 1996 to 2000, users of the Internet increased by 8.9 million people, and people who criticized the Chinese system through the Internet increased. Therefore, the Chinese government intensified cyber censorship. However, the Korean system is different than the Chinese system, and the public in Korea has the right freely to express their opinions. If cyber censorship is intensified in Korea, emails, conversations through messenger services, and blogs can be censored by investigative agencies, and the public’s privacy will be violated.
Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states that the public’s freedom and privacy won’t be violated. If cyber censorship is intensified, the public’s privacy will be infringed. Law enforcement shouldn’t excessively censor personal data. There has to be a balance between law enforcement to stop insulting comments and the security of personal information.
