KCC to Conclude Naver News Manipulation Probe This Year

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) plans to conclude its fact-finding investigation into allegations of manipulation in Naver’s news search ranking algorithm and announce the results within this year.

The KCC stated on the 13th that it has been conducting weekly on-site investigations at Naver and will send a corrective action proposal to Naver as soon as the investigation is finalized.

The KCC’s investigation, which began in July last year, transitioned to a full-fledged fact-finding probe in September of the same year based on suspicions that Naver might have violated prohibition rules by engaging in unfair discrimination against specific users, imposing unreasonable conditions, or failing to disclose important information.

If it is confirmed that Naver intentionally manipulated search results in its news service or provided discriminatory services to specific media outlets, the KCC may impose a fine proportional to the relevant revenue of Naver and consider filing a criminal complaint.

Despite delays in the investigation process due to internal operational issues, the KCC is pressing Naver for document submissions by mentioning the possibility of imposing enforcement fines and is expediting the investigation’s conclusion and implementation of corrective actions.

Recently, Acting Chairman Kim Tae-kyu visited Naver’s premises in person, highlighting the KCC’s focus on this matter.

In addition, the KCC plans to notify Naver of the corrective action proposal before making a final resolution, similar to how it recently concluded its fact-finding investigation into Alibaba Group’s AliExpress.

Once the Constitutional Court’s decision on the impeachment of Chairwoman Lee Jin-sook is finalized, allowing the commission to return to its two-member system, the KCC plans to proceed swiftly with the final resolution.


https://www.sankyungtoday.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=49329

KCC to Conclude Naver News Manipulation Probe This Year