South Korean Court Overturns Online Name Verification Law

SEOUL, South Korea In a major victory for free speech activists in South Korea, a top court on Thursday ruled unconstitutional a law that required Internet users to verify their identity before posting comments on major local Web sites.

South Korea introduced the so-called real-name identification system in 2007 for nearly 150 popular Web sites with more than 100,000 visitors a day, including some newspaper sites.

The regulation was adopted amid widespread concern that Internet users were deluging Web sites with malicious and defamatory comments and false rumors; in a few cases, such statements were blamed in the suicides of celebrities.

But free-speech advocates condemned the rule, arguing that the government was using perceived abuses as a convenient excuse to discourage political criticism. They feared that people would censor themselves rather than provide their names, which would make it easier for the government to find and possibly punish them.

On Thursday, an eight-judge Constitutional Court panel unanimously ruled that the restriction violated the right to free speech.

Restriction on freedom of expression can be justified only when it is clear that it benefits public interests, the court said in its verdict. Its difficult to say that the regulation is achieving public interests.

Under President Lee Myung-bak, the governments crackdown on Internet freedom has merited rebukes not just from free speech advocates at home, but also from the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression and Reporters Without Borders, which said censorship was focused, in part, on political opinions.

But the governments attempts to purge profanity and harsh criticisms of individuals on the Web has backing, especially among social conservatives who fear the Web is eating away at the social fabric, which values deference to elders and those in authority.

On Thursday, the court said there has not been a significant drop in the amount of illegal content posted on local Web sites since the laws adoption. The ruling said the law discriminated against local Web sites, causing many South Korean users to patronize overseas-based Web sites or social networking services like Facebook and Twitter.

South Korean activists have filed a series of lawsuits against what they consider illegal barriers to freedom of speech. They won another major case in 2010, when the Constitutional Court killed a law that punished spreading false rumors online.

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South Korean Court Overturns Online Name Verification Law