디지털 시대 헌법상 표현의 자유 개념

In the Republic of Korea, freedom of expression has commonly been thought to include the freedom of speech and the press, and the freedom of assembly and association. However, in the digital age, several questions need to be addressed to carve out the new meaning of freedom of expression. First and foremost, there needs to be a clear distinction between freedom of expression and the other fundamental rights articulated in the constitution to determine the scope of its protection. Second, the concept of freedom of expression is dependent upon how “expression” is defined; along with that, the question of whether to classify the right to information is thus raised. Third, as the freedom of expression is more often than not realized through mass media, the freedom of that media is a crucial matter; yet the desirability of regulating it at the constitutional level is questionable. Fourth, in today’s digital era, the Internet has fundamentally changed the characteristics of traditional news media outlets. Newspapers are no longer the dominant source of information, but rather, television and the Internet have become rich sources of data due to its expression not being confined to the borders of a nation-state. The freedom of expression then has transformed into a transcendent fundamental right enjoyed by all people. In this paper, the researcher focuses explicitly on the freedom of speech and the press. While freedom of speech and the press is individualistic by nature, the freedom of assembly and association manifests collectively, and this idea will need to be dealt with separately. The researcher will examine the constitutional and legislative history of Korea and determine how the freedom of expression has changed over time by comparing similar regulations mandated by other states. With the advent of online media outlets, the types of expressions have diversified, and traditional regulations are unfit to deal with these changes. In formulating a new legal system regarding the freedom of expression, such changes should be reflected, while also taking into consideration the social responsibility of mass media and the ethics of Internet use.