An interesting report about how a press law in South Korea could cause a barrage of unwarranted requests for correction (we plan to look into this more):
Seoul Central Court asked the Constitutional Court on Thursday to
review the newly revised media law, saying there were possibilities
that some of its clauses violated the constitution. The court said some
clauses of the Press Arbitration Act could be unconstitutional, citing
statutes allowing people to demand corrections regardless of the
initial reports’ accuracy. The court was considering a case filed by
the National Intelligence Service demanding a correction by the Chosun
Ilbo, a daily newspaper.
Media companies have protested against that requirement since the law’s
revision took effect in July last year, expressing concerns that they
would face a flood of requests for corrections although the initial
reports were written based on convincing investigations and published
for the public good. Until now, media companies have been exempted from
liability related to libel if the reports were made without malicious
intent.
The court said the revised law put an excessive burden on media
companies in fact-finding and would eventually shrink their role in
raising suspicions, infringing on press freedom.
The academic and legal community believe the court’s opinion will
likely be upheld by the Constitutional Court. ‘Scholars and members of
the legal community have already taken issue with that particular
clause,’ said Moon Jae-wan, professor of law at Hankook University of
Foreign Studies, noting that advanced countries had no such law.
