1st trial “Read the correction information at a normal pace”,
Seoul Mapo-gu Sangam-dong MBC building. 2024.1.12/News1 ⓒ News1 Reporter Kwon Hyun-jin,
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, “(Seoul=News1) Reporter Kim Il-chang = Regarding the news broadcasted on August 25th last year on MBC’s News Desk about ‘Fukushima contaminated water truth…unusual 16 million views in just two months’, the first-instance court ruled that it was false and ordered to correct the information.”,
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, ‘According to the legal community on the 16th, the 12th Civil Conciliation Division of the Western Seoul District Court (Chief Judge Kim Jin-young) ruled in a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism against MBC for correction of information, stating that “MBC must, within 3 days after this ruling is finalized, have the presenter of \’News Desk\’ read aloud the correction information document attached at a normal pace.”‘,
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, “‘The Truth of Fukushima Contaminated Water’ was a 4-minute 26-second video produced for the government’s seafood safety policy advertisement, which recorded 16 million views at the time.”,
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, ‘MBC concluded in the report that most viewers only watched 5-6 seconds of the video. However, according to YouTube’s advertising standards and analysis system at that time, the 16 million views were counted only for those who watched over 30 seconds, with an average viewing time of 3 minutes and 3 seconds.’,
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, ‘The court stated, “This report has been recognized as false, and the part in question falls under content that could directly damage the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s social evaluation. It is clear that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism would suffer damage from the social evaluation being impaired due to this.” The court emphasized that “MBC has an obligation to correct the false information under Article 14, Paragraph 1 of the Press Arbitration Act.”‘,
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, ‘The court also stated, “During the presenter\’s reading of the correction information, the title should be displayed in subtitles of sufficient size for viewers to easily recognize, and the background screen should show relevant materials of the report being corrected.”‘,
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, ‘If MBC fails to correct the information, they will be required to pay an indirect enforcement fine calculated at a rate of one million won per day from the day after the expiration date of the compliance period to the completion date.’,
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, “Immediately after the MBC News Desk report in August last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested a correction, and on the MBC news homepage and YouTube news channel, reports acknowledging that the content was incorrect were made. However, no correction was made on ‘News Desk.'”,
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, ‘In response, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism applied for correction to the Press Arbitration Commission stating that “A correction should be made on ‘News Desk,'” but MBC refused, leading to a correction lawsuit filed by the ministry in October of the same year.’