Trifling Social Contributions
Public discontent and a critical voice are growing, directed at global Internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter, which are enjoying mounting profits in Korea but are showing little interest in giving back to society.
Korean Internet companies such as Naver have invested nearly 100 billion won (US$94.4 million) into benefit sharing programs, promoting a socially-conscious Internet environment. In contrast, global Internet companies with millions of Korean users have shown little interest in getting involved with giving back to Korean society.
Facebook, which has about 11 million Korean monthly active users, and Twitter, which boasts roughly 8 million monthly Korean users, practically own Korea’s SNS market. However, their activity in the public sector has been minimal at best. So far, the only visible activity has been Twitter’s joint project with Seoul City to establish a "Lifeline."
In Google’s case, the mammoth Internet company has participated in sponsoring a website called “Innovation Hero” with Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and has been actively involved in promoting the Korean alphabet, or Hangul. But industry insiders say that those efforts are still meager, considering the amount of profits they have made in Korea.
An industry source said, “Global IT companies make enormous profits with advertising through Google Play, Facebook, and Twitter. But they have only taken from us, and have done virtually nothing to give back to our country.”
In particular, Facebook and Twitter have started distributing a newsletter promoting their paid services as part of their marketing efforts, gearing up for further profits. However, these global IT giants are by definition Limited Liability Companies, or LLCs, meaning that they are not obligated to disclose their books. As such, getting a clear view of the size of their revenues or profit margins is difficult.