YouTube is not cooperating with the new South Korean law that requires large sites to verify the identity of users. Residents are no longer allowed to upload videos and post comments, but that measure is easy to circumvent.
YouTube owner Google has decided not to cooperate with new South Korean regulations, which have reduced the minimum number of daily visitors to websites subject to an obligation to confirm users’ real names from 300,000 to 100,000. The company has disabled the upload and comment features for South Korean users, reports the South Korean newspaper Hankyore. This would be YouTube, which in that country has the fifth occupied place in the video sharing market, may cost market share, but the company has disabled the features only for users whose locale is South Korea. The company openly states that changing this is enough to be able to post videos, thus the Korea Times.
Rachel Whetstone, Google’s vice president of global communications and public affairs, said the move was made because the new South Korean law is inconsistent with the company’s principles. She argues that freedom of expression is the most important value to be protected on the internet. That statement is notable because Google often expresses the view that it must comply with local laws, for example when confronted with criticism for its involvement in censorship in China.