ReadWriteWeb reports that YouTube has disabled uploads in South Korea in response to an anti-free speech law there.

Google has disabled both uploads of videos and comments on the Korean version of YouTube after the South Korean government tried to enforce a new law which requires web sites with at least 100,000 users to verify the person’s real name if they upload files or leave comments. The Cyber Defamation Law, as it’s called, went into effect on April 1st. According to officials at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, the law is an attempt to quell the cyber-bullying and spread of misinformation on the internet . . .

Or perhaps that’s just what they want you to believe, say critics. The Korea Times, for example, notes that it’s more likely that the government is simply continuing its crackdown on free speech. Already they have been “repeatedly attacked by bloggers,” the paper reports, “first over the controversial decision to resume U.S. beef imports, and more recently for its ineptitude in economic policies. The watershed moment came in January when police arrested Park Dae-sung, a blogger known more widely as ‘Minerva’ and a frequent critic of the government’s economic polices, on charges of ‘deliberately’ undermining public interest by distributing fraudulent information.”

If Koreans wish to continue to use YouTube, they may change their country setting in preferences.

We have not been shy about criticizing past YouTube activities for a cynical cooperation with tyrannical governments. We now praise them with equal alacrity. A company that exists because of free speech should be zealous in its defense. YouTube has not been. Perhaps this is the begining of a shift. We encourage you to write them and thank them for this stand and encourage them to take it in the future.