While Facebook is currently in hot water over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal affecting at least some 50 million users, the social network is also facing regulatory pressure elsewhere in the world. In South Korea, specifically, Facebook has been fined 396 million won, or approximately $369,400, for allegedly throttling access to its site beginning in late 2016 up to 2017.
As reported by ABC News, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) discovered in an investigation that the social media giant rerouted users in the country to servers located in Hong Kong and the United States, resulting in a slower connection for some of its users, with a few even reporting that they were unable to play videos on Facebook.
The KCC claims that the connections were almost 4.5 times slower than normal. SK Broadband, a local internet service provider in the country, reported at least 10 connection-related complaints every day. That pales in comparison to the 34 daily complaints received by LG UPlus on an average. The KCC added that Facebook failed to pay attention to these complaints, stating:
Facebook did not actively look into the complaints from local telecoms service providers that users are complaining about slower connections and as a result its service quality was not maintained at an appropriate level. When controversies erupted in South Korea about Facebook"s rerouting, the company restored the connections to their original state around October and November of 2017.
In its defense, Facebook argued that it does not hold any guarantee that its services would operate without delays or interference. KCC officials the argument, and instead recommended the company to revise its terms of use, adding that it violates a law against limiting user access to services without convincing reasons.
The penalty comes as a result of an investigation into claims that Facebook slowed access to its services while it held negotiations with internet providers in the country to decide on network usage fees.