28 Companies Subject to Assessment
The Korea Communications Commission announced on May 27 that YouTube, Facebook and KakaoTalk are subject to its user protection assessment from this year onwards.
The commission has conducted the annual assessment since 2013 in order to better protect telecommunications users and handle their grievances and complaints. This year, it is scheduled to cover 28 companies in the five service fields including mobile communications.
The 28 companies include common carriers with at least 100,000 subscribers or a complaint ratio of at least 0.5 percent, six services of four value-added telecommunications service providers with a monthly user count of 10 million or more, and four app market companies capable of affecting telecommunications services. YouTube, Facebook and KakaoTalk were subject to pilot assessment last year.
The assessment criteria are divided into user protection systems, damage prevention activities, complaint handling, etc. More specifically, petition and grievance handling in relation to 5G service users, efforts for those with less access such as senior and handicapped citizens, efforts against illegal and harmful content, and so on will be quantitatively assessed.
The assessment methodology is based on data submitted by the companies, ARS system monitoring, retailer monitoring, user satisfaction surveys, etc. External experts and the commission will conduct assessment and resolution before the assessment result is made public in October this year.
Those with higher scores will be given incentives such as a cut in the event of a fine or penalty. Best practices will be shared and guidance will be provided so that the others can improve their practices.