BigTech firms are facing scrutiny in South Korea as the debate on whether players like Netflix and Google should contribute towards network costs has reached the country’s parliament.

In a parliamentary debate on 21 October, legislators discussed a proposed law that would see BigTech companies compelled to partly finance telecoms infrastructure. Supporters of the legislation have argued that companies such as the ‘big five’ – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta – should pay their ‘fair share’ for the amount of bandwidth they use.

Speaking during the hearing, Hong Suk-joon of the governing People Power Party, argued that “Google and Netflix account for more than a third of domestic traffic” and that “it befits global companies to review the issue more proactively.”

Critics however have argued that this legislation would threaten net neutrality and could see large US service providers increase their fees in a move which would ultimately cost consumers.

Activist group Opennet said that more than 250,000 South Koreans had signed a petition against the bill, while Jung Chung-rae, head of the parliament committee overseeing the issue, said: "It risks the collapse of domestic content providers while trying to protect a small number of domestic internet service providers."

Google, one of the companies explicitly targeted by the bill, has said that its introduction would lead to a review of its business in the country. Netflix, whose South Korean series ‘Squid Game’ still stands as its most successful show launch globally, said that it is looking at ways of curbing its traffic usage.

The situation echoes a long-standing debate in Europe, where regulators have proposed similar legislation to compel Google, Meta and Netflix to shoulder some network costs. This has been welcomed by major telcos like BT and Vodafone, but smaller operators have argued that it would harm competition.

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