According to information circulating, Facebook was fined 396 million won or about $ 369,400 for allegedly restricting user access in South Korea. The case has been investigated by the South Korean Communications Commission (KCC) from 2017.
According to the KCC, Facebook has to pay a fine with the amount referred to as a form of punishment for violating laws that harm the interests of users. Regulators also recommend that companies change provisions of the terms of use that can not guarantee the quality of its services.
This problem began when Facebook began to switch the access of some South Korean users to a platform to a network in Hong Kong or the United States, rather than using a local network. This step is done without giving prior notification to the user.
As a result of this access diversion, the connection results run more slowly 4.5 times than usual. SK Broadband as the operator of internet service provider gets 10 complaints per day from the user because of the problem. LG UPlus gets complained 34 times a day.
"Facebook is not actively seeing complaints from local telecommunications services, as users complain about slow connections and as a result of unattended service quality.When controversy peaks in South Korea due to Facebook's switch, the company restores connections to its origin around October and November 2017 , "wrote the KCC.
KCC also mentioned that Facebook violates the law against access restrictions or subscriptions to its services without a convincing reason.
"We are disappointed by the decision of KCC We strive to provide optimal performance for all our users and will continue to work with South Korean internet service providers to achieve goals," wrote Facebook.
