Citizens’ Network for Constitutional Amendment Lecture Series <Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendment Forum to Guarantee Fundamental Information Rights in the Digital Age>
- Existing constitutional amendment discussions must reflect information human rights amendments suitable for the ‘data society’ and current ‘artificial intelligence and digital age’
- Beyond personal information self-determination rights, the right to know, information control and access rights, and scientific and cultural rights, new rights and state responsibility clauses must be established to guarantee rights regarding algorithms and control of machine bias…
The Citizens’ Network for Constitutional Amendment (hereinafter “Citizens’ Amendment Network”) is conducting a series of forums on various agendas including life and safety, minority human rights, anti-discrimination, information rights, climate crisis, and electoral system reform to realize constitutional amendments that reflect the will of citizens. On November 11, 2025 at 10:30, the Citizens’ Amendment Network held its third forum in the series, <Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendment Forum to Guarantee Fundamental Information Rights in the Digital Age>, at Conference Room 11 of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building, following forums on life safety and electoral system reform. The forum was co-hosted by the Citizens’ Amendment Network and the Representative Lee Yong-woo(Democratic Party), and organized by information rights civil society organizations including the Digital Justice Network, the Digital Information Committee of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, Open Net Korea, the Information Human Rights Research Institute, Information Sharing Alliance IP Left, the Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society, and People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.
In his opening remarks, Rep. Lee Yong-woo emphasized that the fundamental information rights specified in the constitutional amendment proposed during the Moon Administration in 2018 were essential rights both then and now, stressing the need for stronger protection of fundamental rights in the artificial intelligence era. Rep. Lee stated that fundamental rights necessary for the AI era, such as the right to make decisions about ‘information about me’ created by artificial intelligence, must be specified in the Constitution, and that the right to know and the right to access information, which form the foundation of democracy, also need to be strengthened.
Yoon Boknam, co-president of the Citizens’ Amendment Network and president of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, stated that even in the AI era, the foundation of social structure must be the freedom and rights of citizens, emphasizing that new fundamental information rights such as the right to be free from AI surveillance and the right to fairly benefit from scientific and technological progress and applications must be established as constitutional values. Co-president Yoon expressed hope that this forum would be the first step in citizens rewriting a new ‘constitutional social contract’ with their own hands, transcending the limitations of the 1987 constitutional framework.
The forum, moderated by Oh Byungil, president of the Digital Justice Network, began with a presentation by Choi Howoong of the Digital Information Committee of Lawyers for a Democratic Society. Choi introduced the constitutional amendment discussions that took place in the National Assembly and government from early 2017 to March 2018, which went beyond privacy and communication secrecy to codify fundamental information rights and state responsibilities. He emphasized that while previous constitutional amendment discussions presumed the arrival of a ‘data society,’ current society has entered the so-called ‘AI era’, and the time has come to further expand and deepen discussions on fundamental information rights. Furthermore, he presented the opinion that specific rights such as personal rights over information itself created by artificial intelligence, the right to monitor, the right to request explanations, and the right to be protected from data bias and discrimination should be explicitly stated.
The first panel, Jang Yeokyung, Executive Director of the Information Human Rights Research Institute, emphasized that the functions of algorithms are unclear. Thus,there is a difficulty in easily detecting human rights violations and that constitutional amendments are necessary to prevent discrimination and inequality strengthened by the use of artificial intelligence. Director Jang presented the opinion that the right to personal information self-determination in the AI era needs to be specified as ‘the right to receive information about oneself and control its processing,’ and that constitutional amendments and the enactment of an anti-discrimination law are necessary to address issues of AI bias and discrimination.
The second panel, Kim Yechan, an activist at the Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society, emphasized that constitutional amendments are needed to guarantee accountability, not simply guarantee the right to access information. He stressed that administrative accountability, ensuring algorithmic transparency, the right to request explanations, the right to object and request intervention, and prohibition of algorithmic discrimination are necessary rights in the AI era, and presented the opinion that the subjects enjoying these rights should not be limited to citizens but should be all people.
The third panel, Yun Hongki, a researcher at Open Net, presented the opinion that new provisions for scientific and cultural rights and the right to benefit from information and culture are necessary. He stated that to overcome the abstractness of preamble or cultural state principle provisions and cases of abuse of the Personal Information Protection Act and intellectual property rights, it is necessary to ‘specify in the Constitution the right to take part in cultural life,’ ‘the right to benefit from scientific progress and applications,’ ‘the right to benefit from creative works,’ and ‘the right to benefit from information and culture.’
The fourth panel, Heewoo, an activist at the Digital Justice Network, emphasized that the constitutional codification of the right to personal information self-determination is an essential measure to protect individual dignity and maintain the foundation of democracy in response to the reality of the information society. She expressed the position that constitutional mechanisms and institutional restructuring to substantively guarantee this against the power structure of the AI era are urgently required.
The final panel, Jang Sunmi, a committee member of the Public Interest Law Center at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, emphasized that discussions on information rights in the Constitution go beyond the issue of responding to technological development and are directly connected to the question of how the Constitution will re-establish human dignity and freedom in an era when humans are controlled by technology, stressing the need for discussions on new reestablishment. She stated that constitutional amendment discussions should not stop at establishing new fundamental information rights but should consider how they combine with other fundamental rights, and when necessary, should consider specifying content linked to information rights.
The information rights civil society organizations that co-organized this forum confirmed the necessity of discussions that go beyond existing discussions in the field of information rights, given the arrival of the ‘artificial intelligence era.’ Furthermore, the CSOs confirmed their common position that fundamental information rights must be specified in the constitutional amendment process that will soon take place through this forum, and announced plans to continue follow-up discussions to draft constitutional amendment proposals.
Following the third forum in the series, <Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendment Forum to Guarantee Fundamental Information Rights in the Digital Age>, hosted by the Citizens’ Constitutional Amendment Network today, the fourth forum in the series will address minority human rights and anti-discrimination and is scheduled to be held at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy on 2025.11.18. at 14:00.
▣ Forum Overview
Title: Citizens’ Constitutional Amendment Network Lecture Series <Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendment Forum to Guarantee Fundamental Information Rights in the Digital Age>
Date and Time: Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 10:30 AM
Hosts: Citizens’ Network for Constitutional Amendment, Rep. Lee Yongwoo, Democratic Party of Korea
Organizers: Digital Justice Network, Digital Information Committee of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, Open Net Korea, Information Human Rights Research Institute, Information Sharing Alliance IP Left, Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
<Program>
Opening Remarks: President of the Citizens’ Network for Constitutional Amendment, National Assembly Member Rep. Lee Yongwoo
Moderator: Oh Byungil (President, Digital Justice Network)
Presenter: Attorney Choi Howoong (Digital Information Committee, Lawyers for a Democratic Society)
Discussant 1: Jang Yeokyung, Executive Director (Information Human Rights Research Institute)
Discussant 2: Kim Yechan, Activist (Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society)
Discussant 3: Yun Hongki, Researcher (Open Net)
Discussant 4: Heewoo, Activist (Digital Justice Network)
Discussant 5: Jang Sunmi, Committee Member of Public Interest Law Center (People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy)
0 Comments