X faced one of its sharpest warnings yet from a government on Thursday, October 22, when a South Korean lawmaker told a National Assembly audit hearing that drug sales and sex-trafficking posts remain searchable on the platform, and that if the situation is not improved by the end of this year, X should be designated a harmful site and its access blocked.
The warning came during the National Assembly Science, ICT and Broadcasting Committee's comprehensive audit in Yeouido, Seoul. Questioning Kathleen Lin, X's Senior Director of Global External Cooperation and Market Development for the Asia-Pacific region, People Power Party lawmaker Cho Gyeong-tae said that, even on the day of the hearing itself, drug posts and prostitution posts could still be found through search on X.
Cho pressed Lin on whether filtering differs by country. In Japan, he said, searching for "ice," a slang term for drugs, brings up posts about ice cream, while that is not the case in Korea. He also raised questions about whether X is generating revenue through advertisements for drugs or prostitution, which are prohibited under Korean law, and said X "has now degenerated into a platform for drug and prostitution ads in Korea." He further criticized a consultation meeting held on October 19 with the Broadcasting Media Communications Review Committee, at which, he said, only legal representatives from X appeared and no operational heads attended.
Lin responded that the same banned-word filters are applied in Korea as elsewhere, and that X's policies sanctioning illegal content and related products are applied equally across all countries, regions, and languages. According to Aju Press's account of the hearing, she added that X has a dedicated team working around the clock to remove such content, that the company is collaborating with Korean authorities, and that its enforcement team includes personnel familiar with the Korean language and culture. She also said that searching for "ice" in Korea likewise returns results about ice and ice cream, while acknowledging that slang and malicious behavior keep evolving.
The regulator at the hearing did not side with X. Ko Gwang-heon, Chairman of the Broadcasting Media Communications Review Committee, said the committee will take all measures within its authority. He noted that the committee has continuously issued correction requests to overseas platforms during its review process, that other large platforms respond relatively well to those requests, and that X has a very low acceptance rate for correction demands.
No block was ordered on Thursday, and neither report of the hearing described X announcing a new Korea-specific filter or policy change. What changed is the deadline now attached to the dispute: a senior lawmaker has publicly put the end of the year on the table, with access restrictions named as the consequence if searchable drug and sex-trafficking posts do not come into line with South Korean legal standards. For users in Korea, the next two months of enforcement, and X's response to correction requests, will show whether that warning stays a warning.