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Twitch is leaving Korea tomorrow, as the Amazon streaming platform announced three months ago citing the "prohibitive costs" of operating in the country.
In a move several have interpreted as South Korea making sure the proverbial door hits Twitch on the way out, the Korea Telecommunications Commission (KCC) has slapped Twitch with a $327,000 fine.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, when Twitch suspended VOD service in the country in early 2023, it "undermined the interests of the users," which is a violation of local telecommunications law. Twitch was also fined for "its failure to implement a system to prevent the distribution of illegal footage."
Twitch announced it was leaving Korea last December due to paying "ten times" more in fees than in any other country. This is likely due to a 2016 "Sender Pays" law passed in Korea that makes Internet Service Providers (ISPs) legally bound to pay a service charge when users access their content.
Twitch attempted to mitigate these fees with the removal of VODs and lowering resolution from 1080p to 720p in early 2023, but it apparently wasn't enough to keep the company operating in Korea, despite Korea being a massive hub for esports content.
To several online, the fine read as petty on the part of Korea, as the timing of the fine, one year after the "violation" and just a few days before Twitch left Korea, made it appear like a retaliatory measure.
The KCC has ordered Twitch to address the problems outlined in the fines if they want to operate again in the country, though it's difficult to see why Twitch would want to at this point in time.
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