포털·SNS 사업자, 자살유발정보 발견 즉시 삭제·차단해야

A new set of regulations requires online portal and social network service providers to promptly delete, block, and limit dissemination of suicide-inducing information. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a partial revision of the 'Law on Promoting Suicide Prevention and Respect for Life' on October 6th, ahead of its expected implementation on November 12th.

This revision stems from a previous law passed last October through the National Assembly, which delegated specific suicide prevention methods and procedures for reporting results to the President by decree.

The revised regulation outlines specific prevention measures that information and communication service providers must implement. These include immediately deleting or blocking any information that encourages or facilitates suicide, such as those promoting suicidal companionship, detailing suicide methods, glamorizing or trivializing suicide, and disseminating self-harm images or videos.

Providers must also prevent users from accessing or sharing such information and limit transmission among users. To prevent unlimited censorship and establish realistic management, these actions are limited to information openly distributed via the service provider's communication network to the general public.

In addition to immediate action, providers must submit monthly reports detailing their deletion, blocking, and search restriction outcomes to the Welfare Minister by the end of the following month. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "We expect this revised regulation to contribute to creating a life-affirming culture by systematically managing and preventing the spread of suicide-inducing information."