검열의 네트워크—1990년대 초중반 PC통신 검열의 형성과 저항

초록

This study comprehensively analyzes the formation of censorship and patterns of resistance in the Korean PC communication environment during the early to mid-1990s. The November 1993 Chollian ‘Modern Philosophy Club’ incident represents the first significant case where freedom of expression collided with state power in a new digital environment, as labor movement-related postings were regulated under the National Security Law, establishing mechanisms for state censorship in digital spaces. The research traces the development of the Modern Philosophy Club incident, analyzing how political expression was regulated. Through the arrest and trial process of Kim Hyungryeol, a 20-year-old youth, the study examines how digital text was legally interpreted and punished, and explores the legal contradictions and issues that emerged. It particularly notes that the inevitable collision with existing legal frameworks stemmed from digital text’s materiality and media characteristics as non-material entities that facilitate easy reproduction, transmission, deletion, and regeneration, unlike printed materials. The activities of the Information and Communication Ethics Committee (ICEC), established in 1995, symbolize the institutionalization of PC communication censorship. While the ICEC ostensibly promoted ‘healthy information culture,’ it effectively employed a dual strategy of regulating both political and sexual expression under a unified concept of ‘harmfulness’. This study critically examines the ICEC’s deliberation processes, organizational structure, and activities, analyzing the strategic justification of state intervention in online spaces under the pretext of ‘obscenity’ regulation. The intense online censorship debates of 1997 demonstrate the government’s attempts to strengthen regulations and civil society’s various resistance strategies amid the evolving internet environment from PC communication to websites. Social conflicts surrounding the Ministry of Information and Communication’s attempts to revise the Telecommunications Business Act enforcement decree, investigative agencies’ expanded monitoring of PC communications, and censorship of postings related to the National College Student Council stirred the first substantial social debate on freedom of expression in digital space. The solidarity and organized resistance of civic groups during this process became a crucial catalyst for developing awareness of digital citizenship. This study emphasizes that the history of PC communication censorship transcended mere technological and legal conflicts, constituting a culturalpolitical arena surrounding the production, distribution, and consumption of digital texts. The contradictions and conflicts arising from applying Cold War-era regulatory mechanisms, represented by the National Security Law, to new digital environments served as significant structural conditions in the formation of Korean digital culture. This historical context enables understanding how contemporary issues of digital censorship and freedom of expression in Korean society have developed, providing important insights for the advancement of citizenship and democracy in the digital age.

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