Kakao participated in the UN’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and presented its contributions to the public and efforts in technology ethics. The IGF, an annual international forum, promotes cooperation among global stakeholders on internet and digital issues and aims to enhance policy collaboration. This year’s forum, held from November 15 to 19, focused on “Designing the Digital Future with Multiple Stakeholders,” with over 9,000 internet and IT experts from 175 countries in attendance.
On November 18, during the session “Utilizing AI for Human Rights Protection,” Kakao discussed efforts such as native platform contributions to public innovation, group-level implementation of technology ethics, and activities to enhance digital safety. The session was moderated by Professor Hyeseon Yoon from Hanyang University, and included other speakers like Jae-kwan Jeong, Kakao’s Technology Ethics Leader, Yongsuk Hwang, a professor from Konkuk University, Rachel Lee, AWS Singapore’s Head of Economic and AI Policy, and Chatai Pikura, responsible for community engagement and support in the Africa, Middle East, and Turkey regions.
In terms of public innovation, Kakao shared examples like providing public information through KakaoTalk, contributing to the digital transformation of traditional postal services. For safer and more reliable technology, Kakao explained their establishment of a technology ethics framework through a subcommittee and their work on integrating and managing relevant policies. They also develop “core checklists” to preemptively address technology risks before service launches.
Additionally, to promote digital safety, Kakao established “AI Ethics Principles” and new regulatory clauses to ensure healthy interactions between AI and users. They operate tools like “Safe Bot,” which filters comments that violate policies using AI, and the “Talk Safety Report” that discloses user protection policy details.
Professor Yoon, as the session moderator, emphasized Kakao’s pioneering self-regulation efforts in protecting digital rights, suggesting that Kakao’s experience could offer significant direction to global companies and countries. Jeong, Kakao’s Technology Ethics Leader, stated that the company is committed to fulfilling its social responsibilities as a digital platform, including user rights protection, and aims to actively foster public innovation while ensuring that platform users safely enjoy the benefits of technology through collaboration with various stakeholders.