SNS emerges as influential political leverage

Youngsters exchange opinions through a social networking service (SNS). / Korea Times file

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By Chung Min-uck

The impact of social networking services (SNS) in politics was proved in the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election. The emerging tool prompted many voters to head to polling stations at the last minute giving social activist Park Won-soon an easy victory. Against this backdrop, an increasing number of politicians have begun to turn to SNS platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to reach out to voters ahead of two key elections next year.

The government is moving to tighten the monitoring of SNS messages. Controversy is flaring up over a recent cyber attack on the National Election Commission's website on day of the by-election allegedly involving aides of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP). All these show the influence of SNS in politics.

The GNP recently appointed 26-year-old startup business CEO Lee Jun-seok as a member of its emergency committee to woo SNS-savvy voters.

The main opposition Democratic Unity Party also announced that it is going to field candidates in their 20s and 30s for the general election in April.

The rise of SNS has analysts questioning its true leverage in politics and possible side effects.

Pros and cons of SNS

SNS has its merits in enhancing the development of participatory democracy. People don't have to rely on traditional media to set agendas. Instead, they can do it by themselves. SNS allows ordinary people to be a one-man medium sending their messages simultaneously to many people.

But analysts worry about distortion of views made through SNS.

"People started expressing their political views with no factual background through SNS. So the decisions made through the networks can easily lead to undesirable results", said Hong Sung-gul, a professor of the Department of Public Administration at Kookmin University in Seoul.

Some worry about the dominance of public opinion by small number of progressives.

"Users who have progressive views tend to express their opinion more actively than conservative users. Also users of SNS tend to be impromptu in making decisions. In turn, the agenda set through SNS tend to be subjective rather than being objective. I don't think public opinion from SNS represents all members of the community", said professor Hyun Taek-su of Korea University's Sociology Department.

Restriction or self-regulation?

Cyberspace once considered a private space is now perceived as public due to its huge influence.

People agree that freedom of speech should be respected, especially on cyber networks where people can freely offer opinions as never before.

But people began to cast doubts on the use of new media with political motives with regard to the possible distortion of truth and indiscrete criticism against politicians.

"Self-regulation should be prioritized in solving the problems in SNS. But if it doesn't work, I think it is right to punish irregularities based on the current Public Office Election Law by making it clearer and broader", said Hong.

"The word self-regulation is always good. But it is hard to put into action. I personally think the penalty should be severe so that people know that any harm made to others through SNS is a crime too", said Hyun.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court ruled that the banning of SNS in election campaigns under the Election Law was a partial violation of the constitution. The ruling is to give more space for SNS users to freely express their political views in next year's general and presidential elections.

SNS in elections

Despite political parties' stress on the use of SNS in elections, analysts say that the tool itself can always change and that it is not at the essence of winning the hearts of the public.

"Parties talk about SNS when they try to attract young voters in their 20s and 30s. But other age brackets also often use SNS. Also in winning elections, SNS is a mere tool. The tools in politics change from time to time. What really matters is whether you are gaining the trust of the people or not. I don't think it is right for the ruling party to say that it is losing to the opposition parties because their supporters are not SNS savvy",said Hong.

"In the same sense, it is wrong of the ruling party to think that they can win elections by restricting SNS".

Hong added that the restriction plans on SNS by the ruling party will only give them an anti-democracy image.

Hyun said, "The punishment should be heavy on the candidates who make non-factual criticism of their rivals through SNS to gain upper hand".

Negative campaigning is considered one of the key strategies in winning elections, especially in Korea as expectations for moral standards of high-ranking government officials is very high.

"Whether it is the ruling or opposition parties, it is wrong to think that they can win elections only through criticizing others. They should be punished for doing that", said Hyun.