[E-Daily Reporter Shin Yeong-bin ] Reports of spam related to KakaoTalk’s “Brand Message” advertising service have approached 95,000 so far this year. The number of cases resulting in fines for violating relevant laws has also risen from two last year to 22 this year.

According to data submitted by the Broadcasting, Media, and Communications Committee and the KoreaInformation&Communication Agency (KISA) to Rep. Hun Gi Lee of the Democratic Party of Korea—a member of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee—on the 20th, spam reports related to KakaoTalk’s “Brand Message” service totaled 94,947 from January through July of this year. This represents a 155.4% increase compared to the 37,169 reports filed between June and December of last year.

Brand Message is a marketing service provided by Kakao that allows advertisers to send commercial advertisements to KakaoTalk users. It enables the delivery of personalized advertising messages to users who have consented to receive promotional content, even if they are not friends on a KakaoTalk Channel.

The number of related administrative penalty cases has also risen. The number of cases in which administrative penalties were imposed for violations of the Information and Communications Network Act during the transmission of promotional information via Brand Message increased from two last year to 22 this year.

Of the 22 administrative fines imposed this year, 18 (81.8%) were related to “failure to obtain separate consent for each transmission medium regarding the receipt of advertisements.” This refers to cases where companies failed to obtain separate consent—specifying whether users wish to receive advertisements via text message, KakaoTalk, or other means—when seeking consent to receive advertisements.

However, the fines were imposed on companies that sent advertisements using Brand Messages. Upon reviewing the list of companies fined, which the lawmaker’s office received from the National Assembly’s Committee on Science and ICT, it was found that Kakao—which provides and operates Brand Messages—had not been fined in any of these cases.

Rep. Lee argued that it is necessary to examine not only whether advertisers violated the law but also how Kakao designs and operates the procedures for consenting to or opting out of Brand Messages.

Rep. Lee stated, “While fines are being imposed on advertisers for violating consent requirements, not a single fine has been imposed on Kakao, which provides and operates the relevant advertising service,” adding, “Apart from the individual advertisers’ liability for violations, it is also necessary to review the platform-level management system for advertising consent.”