The Korean Progressive Network JINBONET, which has received special consultative status for the seventeenth session of the UN Human Rights Council, has issued a call for the council to examine the issue of human rights and ICTs in South Korea.
According to JINBONET, as of 2010 over 77% of South Koreans use the internet, making it an “indispensable medium of expression for the citizen at large in South Korea.”
In recent years, government administrators have shown an increasing propensity to delete or ‘rectify’ online content, often without a court order. ISPs have been overwhelmingly compliant with these demands.
Further, law enforcement agencies have prosecuted hundreds of bloggers and other users for committing defamation online, with many receiving criminal charges. ISPs have again shown their willingness to cooperate with internet crackdowns by storing users’ personal information and sharing it with the authorities.
The seventeenth session of the Human Rights Council runs from 30 May to 17 June 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland where APC will be hosting a side event as part of our Internet Rights are Human Rights campaign.