<Anchor> The
Media Arbitration Act, which stipulates punitive damages for false and manipulated reports by the media, passed the National Assembly led by the Democratic Party. When I looked at the minutes of the meeting, it was confirmed that the government had a different opinion, saying that the legislation was unprecedented and excessive.
Correspondent Kim Hyung-rae.
<Reporter>
We obtained the minutes of the meeting of the Second Lieutenant of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly on the 27th of last month and looked into the review process.
Regarding the punitive damages system of up to five times, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won argued that "there is an aspect that guarantees the monitoring function of the media as it allows damages to be recognized only in cases of malice."
But the government had a different opinion.
First Vice Minister Oh Young-woo of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "There is no precedent and it is a matter to be decided in a legislative policy", and said that it is "too excessive" for setting a lower limit on the amount of compensation.
They also expressed a disagreement about the part where the burden of proving the intentional or gross negligence of false or manipulated reports was passed on to the media, saying, "There is an aspect that goes beyond the purpose of the legislation."
In June, the expert who consulted the second lieutenant also agreed that "the subject can intervene in determining whether the report is malicious."
The National Assembly's Legislative Investigation Office said, "We have not found any foreign cases," and an expert member of the National Assembly gave a review opinion that "there is a risk of restricting the function of the media by strengthening punishment."
What attracts attention isThe point is that even at the beginning of the bill's review, only one out of four so-called pan-passport lawmakers at the time was active in legislation.
Minutes of the last so-called meeting of the 25th of February. Rep. Yoo Jeong-ju and Lee Byung-hoon of the Democratic Party, respectively, expressed concerns about the legislation, saying, "There are parts that are difficult to regulate because of fake news" and "It is difficult to accept it at the moment."
Only independent lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, who was suspected of corruption related to Eastar Jet, raised his voice in introducing a punitive damages system, saying that it is a "minimum protection against fake news."
(Video coverage: Jeong Sang-bo, video editing: Choi Hye-young, CG: Jeong Hoe-yun·Shim Soo-hyun)