🚨 Korea Communications Standards Commission: OTT Era Media Review and Independence Controversy

Today Korean Social News for Beginners | 2025.07.26

📌 Political controversy and effectiveness issues... Will KCSC change for the OTT era?

💬 Controversy around the Korea Communications Standards Commission has risen again. In the digital platform era, YouTube and Netflix are not subject to review, leading to growing criticism about KCSC's effectiveness. At a recent seminar, experts suggested expanding review targets and securing political independence. Experts said that introducing broadcaster self-regulation, expanding OTT review authority, and reforming review organizations are necessary. There were also claims that the way KCSC members are selected should be changed to reduce political influence.

Summary

• The Korea Communications Standards Commission is a government agency that reviews fairness and public interest of broadcasting and communication content.
• YouTube, Netflix and other OTT services are excluded from review, raising questions about effectiveness.
• Securing political independence and reforming the review system for the digital age are urgent tasks.

1️⃣ Definition

Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) means an independent government agency that reviews and evaluates whether broadcasting and communication content is fair and serves the public interest. It has the authority to judge whether content provided on television, radio, internet, etc. meets legal and ethical standards, and can impose penalties when violations occur.

This system exists because media has great influence on society, so it manages fairness, public interest, and decency to create a healthy media environment.

💡 Why is it important?

• Protects citizens from false information and harmful content.
• Maintains fairness in broadcasting and communication, contributing to democratic development.
• Protects youth and children from harmful media.
• Ensures social responsibility of media to create healthy media culture.

2️⃣ Main Functions and Review Standards of KCSC

📕 Core Tasks of KCSC

• KCSC reviews various media content. Main tasks include:

  • Reviews content of all broadcasting including terrestrial, cable, and satellite broadcasting.
  • Reviews illegal and harmful information on the internet and requests corrections.
  • Examines appropriateness and fairness of broadcast advertisements.
  • Receives and processes reports from viewers and users.
  • Operates media-related policy research and education programs.

• It has systematic review standards. Main review criteria include:

  • Fairness: Evaluates whether content is balanced and not biased toward specific political forces or interest groups.
  • Public interest: Reviews whether content serves the interests of society as a whole and pursues public values.
  • Decency: Judges whether violence, sexuality, or vulgar expressions are excessively included.
  • Factuality: Confirms whether false facts or fake news are included.
  • Youth protection: Checks whether content harmful to minors is properly regulated.

📕 Review Process and Sanctions

• Decisions are made through systematic review procedures. Main procedures include:

  • Selects review targets through viewer reports or self-monitoring.
  • Experts carefully examine and analyze the content.
  • Provides explanation opportunities to broadcasters or content providers.
  • Makes final decisions through committee deliberation.
  • Notifies parties of decisions and makes them public.

• Various sanctions can be imposed depending on violation severity. Main sanctions include:

  • Warning: The lowest level of sanction for minor violations.
  • Recommendation: Measures that recommend problem improvement and urge prevention of recurrence.
  • Opinion presentation: Requests correction by presenting specific improvement plans.
  • Correction/rebuttal broadcast: Orders corrective reporting for wrong reports.
  • Program suspension: Temporarily suspends broadcasting of programs for serious violations.

Major Issues in KCSC Operations

1. Political Independence: Need to exclude political influence in member selection process
2. Expanding Review Scope: Regulation plans for new media like OTT and YouTube
3. Freedom of Expression: Concerns about creative freedom decline due to excessive regulation
4. Effectiveness Issues: Limitations of existing broadcast-centered regulation and improvement plans
5. Transparency: Strengthening clarity and openness of review processes and standards

3️⃣ OTT Era Challenges and Reform Discussions

✅ Digital Media Environment Changes and Regulatory Gaps

• OTT services' rapid growth has created new challenges. Main changes include:

  • OTT platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus, and Wave have become major content consumption channels.
  • Personal creator-centered platforms like YouTube and AfreecaTV have gained influence similar to broadcasting.
  • Traditional TV viewing rates are rapidly declining while OTT and online video viewing is rapidly increasing.
  • Foreign platforms have created blind spots not subject to domestic legal regulation.
  • The spread of real-time streaming and personal broadcasting has increased the complexity of content regulation.

• Limitations of current regulatory systems are becoming apparent. Main problems include:

  • Existing regulations based on broadcasting law are difficult to apply to internet-based services.
  • For foreign OTT operators, applying and enforcing domestic laws is practically difficult.
  • Regulatory standards for individual creators and one-person media are not clear.
  • Real-time and interactive content has limitations with existing post-review methods.
  • It's difficult to ensure transparency of global platforms' algorithms and recommendation systems.

✅ Reform Directions and Issues

• Experts are proposing comprehensive system reforms. Main reform directions include:

  • Legal grounds should be established so OTT services receive the same level of regulation as broadcasting.
  • A shift toward strengthening post-regulation and self-regulation rather than pre-review is needed.
  • For global platforms, regulatory measures through international cooperation should be sought.
  • Introduction of AI-powered automatic monitoring systems should be considered.
  • Industry self-regulatory organizations and co-regulation systems need to be established.

• Securing political independence is also an important task. Main improvement measures include:

  • The current system where politicians recommend members should be reformed to focus on civil society and experts.
  • Member terms and status should be guaranteed to secure independence from external pressure.
  • Transparency of review processes should be increased and citizen participation expanded.
  • More careful and objective approaches are needed when reviewing political issues.
  • Balanced regulation should be pursued without infringing on press and expression freedom.

4️⃣ Related Terms

🔎 OTT (Over The Top)

• OTT is video service provided through the internet.
  • OTT stands for 'Over The Top', meaning services that provide video content directly through the internet without going through existing broadcasting infrastructure. It means providing services by going over the top of traditional broadcasting media like cable or satellite broadcasting.
  • Main characteristics of OTT include: First, on-demand service where you can watch desired content anytime, anywhere. Second, provides customized content through personalized recommendation systems. Third, pursues differentiation through original content production. Fourth, mainly uses monthly subscription models.
  • Representative OTT services include global services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, and domestic services like Wave, Tving, and Coupang Play. Recently, traditional broadcasters have also launched their own OTT services, making competition fierce.

🔎 Self-Regulation

• Self-regulation is a way industries manage content with standards they create themselves.
  • Self-regulation means a system where relevant industries or companies voluntarily manage content or services according to standards and procedures they create, instead of government legal enforcement. It's part of efforts to fulfill social responsibility while ensuring creative freedom.
  • Advantages of self-regulation include: First, faster and more flexible responses than government regulation. Second, can create realistic standards using industry expertise. Third, can promote creativity by ensuring autonomy of creators and companies. Fourth, can quickly adjust standards according to social changes.
  • However, self-regulation has limitations. There's possibility of applying lenient standards by prioritizing industry interests, and voices of consumers or civil society may not be sufficiently reflected. Therefore, co-regulation that appropriately harmonizes government regulation and self-regulation is proposed as an alternative.

🔎 Broadcasting Act

• The Broadcasting Act is a law that sets basic principles and operating methods for broadcasting services.
  • The Broadcasting Act is legislation enacted to guarantee broadcasting freedom and independence, fulfill broadcasting's public responsibility, and promote democratic opinion formation and national cultural improvement. It was enacted in 1987 and has undergone several revisions to reach the present.
  • Main contents of the Broadcasting Act include: First, it specifies principles of broadcasting fairness and public interest. Second, it sets standards for broadcasting business licensing, approval, and re-approval. Third, it presents standards for broadcasting program composition and content. Fourth, it defines the role and authority of the Korea Communications Standards Commission.
  • In recent Broadcasting Act revision discussions, major issues include establishing regulatory grounds for OTT services, measures to respond to fake news, and strengthening platform operator responsibilities. Also, as the boundary between broadcasting and communication becomes blurred due to digital environment changes, the necessity of enacting integrated media law is being raised.

5️⃣ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Does KCSC review all YouTube videos?

A: No, the Korea Communications Standards Commission does not review all YouTube videos. Currently, KCSC's main review targets are traditional broadcasting content like terrestrial, cable, and satellite broadcasting. For personal media like YouTube, it only conducts limited reviews of content that receives reports or becomes socially problematic. However, recently, as YouTube content with influence similar to broadcasting has increased, discussions about expanding regulatory scope are becoming active. Particularly, more active regulation is being suggested for false information, hate speech, and youth-harmful content. However, balanced approaches are needed to not infringe on individual expression freedom and creative freedom. In the future, strengthening platform operator self-regulation and co-regulation methods that harmonize government regulation and self-regulation are expected to spread.

Q: What disadvantages are there if sanctioned by KCSC?

A: The degree of disadvantage varies according to the level of Korea Communications Standards Commission sanctions. The lightest 'warning' measure is at the warning level with no direct disadvantages, but heavier sanctions can be received if repeated. 'Recommendation' and 'opinion presentation' are measures requesting problem improvement, and additional sanctions can be received if not implemented. If ordered for 'correction/rebuttal broadcast', the broadcaster must make corrective reports, and more serious sanctions are received if refused. The heaviest 'program suspension' means the program cannot be broadcast for a certain period, causing direct economic loss to broadcasters. Also, KCSC sanction history can act as negative factors in broadcaster re-licensing or re-approval reviews. Broadcasters receiving repeated sanctions see decreased social trust, and advertisers may avoid them, causing indirect economic damage. However, if there are objections to sanction decisions, relief procedures are available through administrative litigation.