SEOUL– The controversial ruling party-led media bill centered on heightening punitive damages against fake news has been temporarily shelved for further bipartisan negotiations, but experts projected it will be highly unlikely to pass at the National Assembly anytime soon in the face of fierce resistance from the opposition and the international community.
Facing relentless criticism over its proposal to revise the media arbitration act, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) decided a day earlier to step back from its monthslong push to get it through a plenary parliamentary vote and agreed with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to form a special bipartisan committee at the National Assembly to further deliberate on the issue.
The decision marks a major reversal of position on the contentious bill designed to enforce punitive damages up to five times the normal amount on media outlets found guilty of disinformation. The DP earlier pledged its commitment for the legislation and railroaded the bill through relevant parliamentary committees in August.
Set to run till Dec. 31, the committee will give the rival parties more time to try to iron out their differences, but experts predicted it has a slim chance of winning a bipartisan consensus and, without such a backing, the DP would find it difficult to go it alone, given the sensitivity of the issue in the run-up to the 2022 presidential election in March.
Many agree there’s little room for a bipartisan consensus over the bill’s key points of contention in the upcoming 18-member committee, most notably over enforcing up to fivefold punitive damages, which local and global media-related groups as well as the international community have criticized for potentially undermining press freedom and silencing critical media.
The issue had been a major sticking point in the past one-month bipartisan negotiations, launched in late August after the DP pulled back from its initial drive to railroad the bill on its own, based on the 169-seat majority it controls at the unicameral 300-member chamber.
Defining the proposed punitive damages as “unconstitutional,” the PPP refused the DP’s proposal to relax the penalties to up to threefold in the negotiations, insisting on its demand for the complete removal of the clause.
Another key point of intense dispute had been on the bill’s granting of a right to fake news victims to demand removal of relevant news coverage from the internet.
The PPP is adamant about its continued fight against the two key “toxic” clauses.
“Those clauses on punitive damages and the right to demand removal (of news reports) need to be completely eliminated,” a key official at the main opposition party told Yonhap News Agency.
“The PPP can never accept those unconstitutional terms, which are opposed by the international community and international organizations as well,” the official noted.
In the absence of a bipartisan consensus, the ruling party would fight shy of such a unilateral action, which could turn public opinion against the party in the run-up to the March 9 presidential election, according to political pundits.
Against the backdrop, the controversial legislative initiative is expected to lose steam and go adrift until the launch of the next administration in May.
Given the explosive backlash the bill could stir up, the incoming administration is also highly likely to put the issue on the back burner, experts said, painting a dim prospect of the bill’s ultimate fate.
Even if the rival parties do strike a deal in the upcoming committee, it will be confined only to uncontested parts of the bill, such as those on enforcing an expansion in media outlets’ corrections on misinformation, experts pointed out.
The DP stressed its continued commitment for media reform, saying it has not given up its push for punitive damages against fake news.
“Our basic stance remains unchanged. (But) we will take in various opinions to discuss the issue,” DP floor leader Rep. Yun Ho-jung told reporters Wednesday night.
Source: Yonhap News Agency