Facebook fined in South Korea for limiting user access

South Korea’s telecoms regulator has fined Facebook for illegally limiting user access to its services from late 2016 to 2017.

The Korea Communications Commission said Wednesday that Facebook should pay 396 million won (US$369,400) as a penalty for violating a law against hurting the interests of users. The regulator also recommended that the company change its terms of use stipulating it cannot guarantee the quality of its services.

The issue is unrelated to Facebook’s troubles over allegations that Trump-affiliated data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica stole data from 50 million Facebook users to influence U.S. elections. But the social media giant has faced other complaints in Asia over access and privacy.

The South Korean flap arose after Facebook rerouted some users’ access to its services to networks in Hong Kong or the United States, instead of using domestic networks, without notifying them, the regulator said. That slowed connections for some local Facebook users, and some complained they were unable to play videos on Facebook. SK Broadband, a local fixed-line internet provider, received about 10 complaints per day for slow connections while LG Uplus, another internet service provider, received an average of 34 complaints a day.

“Facebook did not actively look into the complaints from local telecoms service providers that users are complaining about slower connections and as a result its service quality was not maintained at an appropriate level,” the KCC said in a statement.