Naver has taken measures to notify media companies if a phenomenon known as "coordinate targeting," where a large number of comments are posted to influence public opinion, is detected in its news service, and to change the comment sorting method.
On the 28th, Naver reported in a notice sent to partner media companies that it plans to introduce a feature on the 29th in the Smart Content Studio to alert media companies of a sudden spike in user reactions in the comment section. This feature will detect a significant increase in likes or dislikes for specific comments within 24 hours and inform users with a separate note in the news service.
Media companies will be granted the authority to change the comment sorting method for articles suspected of "coordinate targeting." Naver explained, "The list of detected articles can be checked in the newly revamped comment menu, and if each media company decides that it needs to change the comment sorting for a specific article, it can do so directly."
Naver will start this feature in beta version and plans to enhance the detection criteria and continuously expand the feature in the future. Naver stated, "Articles with a concentrated increase in likes and dislikes for specific comments will be detected based on certain criteria, and once this phenomenon is detected, media companies will be notified immediately, and measures will be taken to inform users as well."
Earlier, on the 18th, Choi Soo-yeon, Naver's CEO, attended the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and said, "We are aware of the coordinate targeting issue, and I have deep concerns about not implementing technical measures in advance for this matter." He added, "(The exact timing needs to be verified) but around April 28, we will inform media companies of the abnormal activities and prepare technical measures so that users can be aware immediately."
Lee Jung-kyu, head of Naver's Integrated Service Operations Support, also stated during the committee's inquiry, "When malicious comment abusing traffic, such as coordinate targeting, is detected, we are hastening improvements to the features to deliver this information to media companies so they can make judgments based on their operational policies."
Recently, during the impeachment process of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, the phenomenon of "coordinate targeting" occurred for specific articles on YouTube and other platforms, leading to political controversy. In light of this situation, Naver is hastily promoting system improvements to enhance the fairness of news comments.