Republic of Korea: 2025 amendment to Network Act establishing governance bodies and introducing increased fines was adopted by National Assembly

On 24 December 2025, the National Assembly adopted the 2025 amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilisation and Information Protection (Network Act/Bill no. 2215443). The Act restructures the regulatory framework by expanding the Defamation Dispute Mediation Department into a broader Dispute Mediation Department, increasing its membership to 9–20 experts to handle content-related disputes. It also authorises the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to establish an Information and Communications Service Transparency Center, tasked with supervising large-scale service providers and supporting fact-checking activities. Under the amended provisions, the KCC may impose fines of up to KRW 1 billion on platforms that repeatedly distribute illegal or manipulated information following a final court ruling (Article 44-24). Article 70 raises the maximum penalty for individuals committing defamation through false information from KRW 50 million to KRW 70 million and introduces provisions allowing the confiscation of profits derived from such violations.