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Korea's ambiguous definition of fake news endangers freedom of expression
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The self-serving characterization and abuse of the term "fake news" has been evident recently as supporters and critics of the controversial justice minister nominee Cho Kuk have clashed following a swath of media coverage about him.
On Thursday, the phrase "fake news out" topped the top 10 most frequent searches on the nation's largest internet portal Naver. It was part of Cho supporters' online campaign to save the embattled nominee in the wake of the prosecution kicking off its investigation into the nominee regarding various allegations about him, his daughter and relatives.
Cho's supporters deem suspicions and allegations about the justice minister nominee to be fake news and claim the prosecution's probe is politically motivated.
Cho is a harsh critic of the prosecution and vowed to overhaul it if he takes the helm. So his supporters alleged that the prosecution is launching a pre-emptive strike against Cho out of fear of him passing the confirmation hearing at the National Assembly.
Interestingly, Cho's supporters' characterization of allegations and suspicions about the politician as fake news came before the investigation results. To determine whether a certain thing is fake news or not, one should wait until the accused is cleared of the allegation in question.
Politicians and members of the public have abused the term "fake news" since it entered the Korean lexicon after its frequent use by U.S. President Donald Trump, who applies it to unflattering news rather than deliberate disinformation.
Despite the wide use of the term, here in Korea, there seems to be no agreed definition about what fake news is.
In his answer sheets to the National Assembly confirmation hearing members, Han Sang-hyuk, a lawyer who was tapped to head the Korea Communications Commission, said fake news is "fabricated information with malicious intent to achieve a certain goal."
Han said fake news is different from opinionated articles, satire or parody.
Earlier, he caused a stir for his remarks that those who spread what he defines as fake news won't be protected under freedom of expression and would face legal consequences. Later, he changed his words, saying he had no intention to regulate fake news.
Han's definition of the term fake news revealed a lack of consensus on the meaning of the term.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), misinformation refers to "misleading information created or disseminated without manipulative or malicious intent" while disinformation is "deliberate (often orchestrated) attempts to confuse or manipulate people through delivering dishonest information."
"Both are problems for society, but disinformation is particularly dangerous because it is frequently organized, well resourced and reinforced by automated technology," it said in the "UNESCO Journalism, Fake News & Disinformation" report, which is part of the UNESCO series on journalism education.
In the report, UNESCO used the term disinformation instead of fake news because, according to it, news in general means verifiable information in the public interest and "information that does not meet these standards does not deserve the label of news."
"In this sense then, fake news is an oxymoron which lends itself to undermining the credibility of information which does indeed meet the threshold of verifiability and public interest," the paper said.
The BBC's extensive 2018 research projects in India, Kenya and Nigeria found several interesting aspects about fake news. It hints that fears about the spread of uncomfortable truths could fuel the spread of fake news in a community.
"In India, people are reluctant to share messages which they think might incite violence, but feel duty bound to share nationalistic messages," it said. "Fake news stories about India's progress, Hindu power and revival of lost Hindu glory are being shared widely without any attempt at fact-checking. In sharing these messages, people feel like they are nation building."
The BBC's research findings increase understanding about what's deep inside the hearts of the supporters of justice minister nominee Cho, and why they have launched online campaigns to defending him by dismissing allegations about him as fake news.
Meanwhile, Korea's more ambiguous, broader definition of fake news could endanger freedom of expression.
Many ruling party members and left-leaning commentators seem to sympathize with Han's characterization of fake news. Some ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) members, including Reps. Lee Hae-chan and Park Gwang-on, claimed that the allegations about Cho are fake news even without attempting to fact-check, pinpointing several YouTubers as the key source of fake news. They bashed the media for their coverage of suspicions about Cho without trying to unearth the truth.
