Na Kyung-won calls amended online information law a 'totalitarian declaration,' warns criticism of homosexuality could be punished

People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won said Monday that an amended telecommunications law set to take effect Tuesday — which critics have dubbed the "July 7 People's Gag Law" — amounts to a "totalitarian declaration" against the South Korean public. While the legislation was promoted under the banner of eradicating fake news, Na said its true purpose is to silence voices inconvenient to those in power.

Writing on Facebook, Na said the standards for determining what constitutes falsehood or hate speech "will be calibrated entirely to suit the tastes of the Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party." She warned that citizens voicing diverse opinions on the May 18 pro-democracy uprising, criticizing the government's excessive pro-China policies, or highlighting President Lee's numerous criminal charges could all be labeled as spreading falsehoods or hate speech and subjected to punitive damages.

She added that criticism of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, as well as concerns raised by religious communities, could similarly be branded as hate speech and punished. "Meanwhile, one has to wonder whether subtly denying that North Korea started the Korean War, or engaging in 'aid America, resist Korea' rhetoric and anti-American agitation, will be protected under the guise of freedom of expression. Is this really what a normal liberal democracy looks like?" she said.

Na also drew a connection to a recent controversy involving a secondary school, saying that when President Lee led criticism of Starbucks and the government spearheaded a boycott, incidents such as the heavy disciplinary action at Baejae High School were an inevitable result. "Why did teenage students end up using 'Let's go to Starbucks' as a cheer? Didn't the students themselves, deep down, feel that the government's response to Starbucks was fundamentally excessive — that it was simply wrong?" she said.

Na said "the Lee Jae Myung Democratic Party administration is now barreling down the road of totalitarianism, seeking to shape even the thoughts and words of the people to suit those in power," adding that even an idol group member's use of the regional dialect word "museopno" had become fodder for mutual judgment and witch-hunting.

She called on the party to respond by filing a constitutional complaint. Na said online communities were already circulating "survival manuals" advising people to "watch what you say," and that hundreds of thousands of citizens had joined petitions demanding the law's repeal. She said the party should introduce a full revision bill as its official position and "tear apart this gag law."