[尹, 헌재 첫 변론 출석 거부]
與 “Criminal charges filed against private plane for threatening citizens”
野 “We have revealed that we will take strict action against false news”
In response to Rep. Yong-gi Yong-gi of the Democratic Party of Korea saying, “Spreading false information through KakaoTalk (and other Internet messengers) can be punished as civil war propaganda,” the People Power Party called it “a reign of terror” and “martial law on KakaoTalk.” There was strong criticism. The war of nerves between the ruling and opposition parties over the Insurgency Special Prosecutor’s Office Act to investigate charges of rebellion in relation to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s emergency martial law has suddenly spread into the ‘KakaoTalk censorship’ controversy.
Rep. Jeon’s remarks came while revealing at the National Assembly on the 10th that the Democratic Party had reported extremist YouTubers to the police on charges of insurrection propaganda under Article 90, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act. A former lawmaker who is co-chairman of the Democratic Party’s National Communication Committee and in charge of the Democratic Party’s false manipulation information reporting organization ‘Democratic Police Box’ said, “Spreading false news related to civil war propaganda through comments, communities, and KakaoTalk can be fully punished.” “Even if it is an ordinary person, we will firmly accuse it of inciting civil war,” he said.
The People Power Party argued that since the scope of investigation of the amendment to the Special Investigations Act re-introduced by the Democratic Party includes charges of propaganda and instigation of civil war, if this bill is passed, even private conversations on Internet messengers will be included in the scope of the special investigation.
Park Hyeong-soo, senior vice-president of the National Assembly, met with reporters on the 12th and argued, “If the Democratic Party’s insurrection special investigation bill is followed, the special prosecutor will even secure the ‘right to censor KakaoTalk’ of the general public.” Rep. Joo Jin-woo, chairman of the People Power Party’s legal advisory committee, criticized, “The ‘black intention’ to investigate and silence people who criticize the Democratic Party is clear.” The People Power Party announced a criminal complaint against the former lawmaker, saying, “This constitutes a crime of coercion, intimidation, and defamation by spreading false information against the people.”
Rep. Na Kyung-won said, “Today, I decided to become the ‘No. 1 accused of civil war propaganda,’” and added, “Impeachment is invalid.” He shared a KakaoTalk screenshot with the words, “Please report this as propaganda for civil war.” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized, “The Democratic Party should either remove ‘Democratic Party’ from its name or change its name to ‘Democratic Public Security Party.’”
The Democratic Party leadership drew a line at the ruling party’s claim of ‘censorship of KakaoTalk’ while emphasizing the need for a firm response to propaganda and instigation of civil war. Chief Spokesperson Cho Seung-rae met with reporters that day and said, “The idea is that there is a need to take strict action against the act of systematically spreading (false news) through social media.” The Democratic Party will report false news spread through KakaoTalk and review whether it is a problem.
In a phone call that day, Rep. Jeon refuted, “We are not saying that we will censor, but that we will review the reported contents and take firm action only on those that are truly problematic.”
Reporter Kim Seong-mo [email protected]
Reporter Kwon Oh-hyuk [email protected]
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