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By Yun Suh-young
Should judges be banned from posting their opinions on political issues on Facebook or Twitter?
The answer is elusive in the absence of clear-cut guidelines or regulations as to whether social network services (SNS) are public or private spaces for civil servants.
A fresh dispute has erupted after a senior judge at a regional court wrote a post critical of President Lee Myung-bak and the ratification of the free trade agreement with the United States on Facebook.
In the message, Choi Eun-bae, the 45-year-old judge, said he “will not forget Nov. 22, the day when Korean bureaucrats betrayed their country,” calling Lee “pro-American to the core.”
His comment, first reported by the conservative local daily Chosun Ilbo, drew fire from conservative politicians and infuriated Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae.
In contrast, the judge is enjoying huge support from bloggers and Twitter users, gaining tens of thousands of followers in a matter of days.
Adding fuel to the escalating dispute, another senior judge Lee Jeong-yeol, 42, posted Sunday a comment supportive of Choi on his Facebook account, saying that he envied comedians because they can say what they want. “Now some people say judges shouldn’t say what they want on Facebook. Please leave me alone. I want to continue using Facebook,” said Lee, a judge in a district court in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
A fine line
Following the controversy, the Government Public Ethics Committee recommended judges to be careful with any words and actions that could influence a fair trial. But it didn’t take any action regarding Choi.
“Judges are required to maintain their dignity not only in their public but also private activities. A judge’s personal actions could influence the entire judiciary,” the committee announced after holding a five-hour-long discussion.
Committee members agreed on creating guidelines for judges on using SNS.
However, judges will likely remain divided over the issue of maintaining political neutrality on SNS.
After the Supreme Court decision to refer the matter to the ethics committee, some judges criticized the move saying it was “hasty.”
Byeon Min-seon, 46, a judge at a district court in northern Seoul, posted a message on the intranet of the Supreme Court, Monday, stating, “I was surprised to find that a judge has been referred to the ethics committee just several hours after his comment was reported by the press. It is an attempt to suppress freedom of expression by bringing private postings on Facebook into public debate.”
Byeon said the referral to the committee should have been decided after collecting opinions from other judges.
A prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said, “Most prosecutors are too busy to be engaging in SNS. But I guess the judge’s comments could constitute a violation of the Civil Servants’ Ethics Law requiring them to maintain political neutrality.”
It remains a challenge to delineate the boundary between what is public and private, analysts say.
“It’s really hard to draw a line between public and personal comments on SNS. The judge’s comment was definitely his individual stance, but it can also be seen as public because many people can see what he wrote,” said Park Sung-hee, a professor of the Division of Media Studies at Ewha Womans University.
“Sometimes, private status updates turn into public ones due to the inevitable character of the new communication tool. We need to define the limits of this social media for the future as people may manipulate it for political purposes,” she said.
Fierce online debate
A netizen in support of Choi, @yuri***, said on his Twitter account: “If people can’t say what they want to say, how can we say that’s a democracy? I support your opinion.”
Another tweeter, @bkri***, a former judge and lawyer said, “Can we really criticize the judge for posting liberal comments on Facebook? We can’t say he’s a leftist just because his opinion happens to meet the opposition party’s arguments.”
Others were critical of the judge _ @danb*** said, “Is there a need for a judge to reveal his political tendency unless he wants to get into politics? Judges should speak through court rulings.”
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