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While governments around the world, how to deal with the explosion of "fake news," South Korea has come out swinging, vowing to use its criminal laws to curb what officials have declared a threat to democracy.
The plans have drawn an outcry from civil liberty advocates, who see it as an attack on free expression. They question whether liberal President Moon Jae-in, who was elected last year a popular uprising that a corrupt government, is pivoting to a path taken by his disgraced conservative predecessors who used their powers and a criminal charge of defamation to suppress critics.
Some experts say that it is more important than any other country in the world.
Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon puts on North Korea defectorate groups on North Korea-born reporter of North Korea-born reporter of North Korean officials.
Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom has been snapped up by conservative newspapers in recent briefings for supposedly exaggerating the rift between Washington and Seoul over North Korea policies.
The controversy erupted after Justice Minister Park Sang-ki last week ordered state prosecutors to aggressively chase down people spreading "false, manipulated information." He said prosecutors should be proactive in detecting fake stories and misinformation and, when needed, push ahead with criminal investigations even when no one files a complaint.
They can apply various laws, such as defamation that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison. The Justice Ministry also plans to revise laws to make it easier to remove suspicious online content.
The National Police Agency said it is currently about 16 false stories that made rounds online. They include claims that are showing signs of dementia; Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon paid tribute to North Korea founder Kim Il Sung during a recent visit to Vietnam; North Korea has asked for a cash payment of 200 trillion won ($ 176 billion) from the South as costs for commitment.
A frequent target is YouTube, which is overflowing with video channels run by right-wing conservatives who often make bizarre claims against a president they characterize as a North Korea sympathizer.
Kwang-on Park, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party's Moon, lashed out at Google on Tuesday after it refused the party's request to remove some 100 videos, including those describing rumors about Moon, from YouTube. Conservatives say the ruling party is a private company for political purposes.
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OLD HABITS
Under Moon's predecessor, Park Geun-hye, prosecutors indicted a Japanese journalist on charges of defaming Park by citing salacious rumors about her whereabouts on the day of a ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people in 2014. Park's helps also in 2014 filed a defamation complaint against six reporters from Segye Ilbo after the newspaper reported on a leaked presidential document to allege
Before Park, Chairman Lee Myung-bak was accused of turning major TV networks into his mouthpieces by filling their corporate leadership with close supporters. They meddled in reporting and shutting down critical programs of Lee's policies, triggering massive strikes and layoffs as protested journalists. Lee also took steps to strengthen online monitoring and limiting the anonymity of people. Prosecutors arrested an anti-government blogger in 2009 on charges of spreading online rumors that disrupted the country's economy. The blogger was later acquitted in short.
Park and Lee are now serving a long time in prison.
Moon's government has not attempted to influence the traditional media in the ways Park and Lee did. But critics try to impose more rules on the internet users could create a chilling effect among people and reporters criticizing and voting the government.
"We had clearly witnessed the maneuvers by the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments to destroy the media," the National Union of Media Workers said in a statement last week. "It is not appropriate for the government to intervene and define what it is, this will almost certainly create suspicions that will be based on the government's taste."
Freedom of speech and media freedoms are sensitive issues in South Korea, which from the 1960s to '80s was ruled by military dictatorships that heavily censored news reports and persecuted and even carried out dissidents.
The South Korea is divided along ideological lines. The arguments have mostly revolved around partisan political issues, while the country has yet to take place.
"Supporters of each side sincerely see themselves as defenders of the good against the evil, and are willing to do much to ensure that the forces of the 'light and virtue,' that is, their side, will triumph," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University.
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SLIPPERY SLOPE
Government officials say false stories and negative rumors have become more of a problem.
The justice ministry said the story of "social distrust" and hurt "democratic discourse" by "intentionally manipulating objective facts," logic. "
Legal experts say that it can not be fully complied with.
It is not always easy to parse what is true and untrue.
For years, Park has been oddly rumored that it was permitting to manipulate her government from the shadows, describing them as flat-out lies. Journalists eventually proved the suspicions as true, massive sparking protests that led to Park's demise and new elections.
Lee Kang-hyeok from the Seoul-based Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
Lee said the country's defamation law, with charges being threatened or brought against reporters and government critics. It is also relatively easy to remove online articles, which requires a complete list of the rules of the law.
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SENSITIVITY OVER NORTH KOREA
Lankov said it could end up in a bitter fight with critics and conservative media if the public support of his North Korea diplomacy wanes.
He has had a hard time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Kim Trump.
But Pyongyang has been playing hardball since, insisting that sanctions should be lifted before any progress in nuclear talks, fueling doubts on whether or not it will be fully relinquish its arsenal. South Korea's enthusiasm for engagement has also created discomfort with the United States, which has called for alliances to maintain North North America.
"The Moon government has good reasons to believe that it will not be possible to create and maintain an impression of progress towards denuclearization," said Lankov, "who said the Moon's policy is "rational and responsible" despite being possibly "dishonest" about North Korean intent.
"They are annoyed about people who tell the sad truth, since the excessive honesty might provoke a disaster," he said.
