South Korean internet giant Naver denied reports Sunday that it has an internal policy that allows the government to demand unilateral changes to the portal website’s “current most-searched keywords” list.

According to Yonhap News Agency, government agencies can ask Naver to delete or exclude certain trending keywords from its website, signaling potential manipulation and state surveillance of public information on the web.


Naver’s current most-searched keywords list often reflects the hottest topics and issues that are of interest to the public in real-time, ranging from politics, social affairs, entertainment and popular culture.

The Korean internet giant said that based on its protocol, it does not add or remove keywords from its trending search words list.

However, Naver said it is mandated by the current law to follow orders from the Korea Communications Standards Commission or local courts, refuting allegations that its policies are wholly internal.

Korea’s second-largest portal operator Daum is also subject to the same legal stipulations, Naver added.

Naver also highlighted that the keywords it omits are sent over for transparent screening and evaluation by the Korea Internet Self-governance Organization.

“Our policies are currently available for public viewing on our website. We are well aware of concerns over manipulation of information and will make continued efforts to raise transparency in our operations,” Naver said in a statement.

According to KISO, Naver excluded a total of 1,408 keywords from its current most-searched keywords list from January to May this year, which amounts to around nine keywords a day.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)