A survey found that three out of four KakaoTalk users have experience receiving unwanted promotional messages. Seven out of ten respondents said government regulation is needed for KakaoTalk advertising messages sent without explicit consent.
The office of Rep. Lee Jung-heon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and affiliated with the Science, Technology and Information Committee of the National Assembly and the Korea Communications Commission, along with the Seoul YMCA Citizen Broadcasting Station, announced on the 1st that they received these responses after conducting a "2026 Survey on Perceptions of Digital Platform User Benefits" targeting 2,000 general citizens residing nationwide.
According to the survey, 73.7% of KakaoTalk users responded that they have experience receiving unwanted promotional messages. Responses of "No" were 15.8%, and "I don't know" was 10.5%.
The promotional messages received by these users are KakaoTalk's "Brand Messages." Survey results showed that 55.4% of users responded that the act of "sending individual business advertising messages via KakaoTalk without explicit user consent" is inappropriate. "Completely inappropriate" accounted for 30.0%, and "Inappropriate" for 25.4%. Responses indicating appropriateness were limited to 15.6%.
Opinions that government regulation is necessary also reached 68.6%. "Necessary" was 38.8% and "Very necessary" was 29.8%. In contrast, responses stating that regulation is not necessary were 5.6%.
Rep. Lee's office and the Seoul YMCA pointed out as an issue that messages are transmitted even when users have not explicitly consented to receiving advertisements in the process of sending KakaoTalk Brand Messages. They argued that this may limit user choice, particularly because advertising messages can be received from KakaoTalk channels that users did not directly add.
Regarding personal information processing, the office revealed that while the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) took administrative measures such as imposing fines of up to 24 million won on advertisers who provided user personal information to Kakao, there were no separate sanctions against Kakao.
Lee stated, "Securing explicit consent for receiving Brand Messages should not be limited solely to the responsibility of advertisers," adding, "The government must closely examine Kakao's responsibility in using personal information received from advertisers for indiscriminate advertising distribution and demand that Kakao establish user protection measures such as advertising receipt consent procedures."
Meanwhile, the survey also found responses indicating a need for improvement regarding continuously rising "digital platform fees." Six out of ten users who pay for digital platform services such as OTT, streaming, and generative AI responded that "digital platform fees are expensive," while 13.7% answered that they are cheap.
in TECH
