On December 11, 2025, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled that the National Election Commission (NEC) acted unlawfully when it ordered the deletion of online posts on the online community Womad under the Public Official Election Act. The posts criticized media bias against female candidates and condemned a violent attack on a female campaigner. While the NEC labeled these as illegal “gender-disparaging” speech, the Supreme Court clarified that for such content to be restricted, the disparagement must be directly related to a candidate and clearly intended to influence election results.
This ruling is a significant victory for freedom of expression, as it sets a stricter legal standard to prevent the NEC from abusing its broad censorship powers. The Court recognized that the posts were legitimate political expressions addressing social issues like media prejudice and gender-based violence, rather than malicious election interference. Open Net, which led the legal challenge, welcomed the decision as a necessary check on the arbitrary interpretation of election laws that often stifles public discourse.
Despite this win, we emphasize that South Korea’s Public Official Election Act still contains many over-regulatory provisions, including recent restrictions on political deepfakes. The organization continues to call for a fundamental reform of the legal system to ensure that the public’s right to political speech is fully protected without the threat of unfair censorship.
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