1. By Michelle Schroeder Internet Filtering in South Korea

2. Background South Korea was established in 1948 Openly approving North Korean government is illegal and a lot of internet filtering pertains to this Thousands of South Koreans since South Korea has been established have been arrested under the anti-communist National Security Law Investigations and arrests are still happening today even though South Korea and North Korea are trying to get along.

3. Background More than 89 percent of South Korean households have Internet access, making South Korea the most connected country There are over 30,000 internet cafes Three South Korean internet service providers control nearly 85% of the internet market The largest is KorNet which provides about half of the ADSL lines, which then makes KorNet the largest ADSL supplier in the world.

4. Internet Filtering South Korean filters many areas such as political content related to North Korea, gambling sites, pirated software, pornography sites, and so on South Korea has state ethic guidelines This is where most South Korean search engines require users to verify they are at least 19 years old before allowing access to porn sites

5. Legal and Regulatory Frameworks The NSL is the primary regulation governing Internet speech in South Korea NSL was designed to prevent communist ideology and pro-North Korean sentiment This statute provides up to years of imprisonment ISPs are responsible for policing content on their networks There is a government list of around 120,000 sites in which the ISPs are required to filter

6. Legal and Regulatory Frameworks Internet access facilities such as Internet Cafes and public libraries are required to install internet filtering software The Youth Protection Act of 1997 made ISPs officially responsible for policing the internet Under this act, homosexual content is considered “harmful and obscene” In 2003 this homosexual content provision was removed because of outcries

7. ONI Testing Results The testing revealed that South Korea filters content related to North Korea, a handful of sites dedicated to gambling, and two sites devoted to pirated software ONI’s test suggested that there is little blocking of sensitive content in South Korea ONI’s testing registered no blocks on pornography sites and homosexual content Minor’s access is restricted though by requiring age identification

8. Conclusion South Korea is the most connected country, yet the citizens of this country are not able to have access to unfiltered internet Citizens of South Korea are often held liable and arrested for going against South Korean internet filtering laws