SK Broadband, a South Korean internet service provider, has sued Netflix, saying that the streaming platform's popular program Squid Game caused a spike in their network traffic, following calls from politicians and judges in the nation for content providers to pay for network usage. The decision comes after a Seoul court ruled that Netflix should contribute something in return for network access, and several South Korean lawmakers spoke out against content providers who do not pay for network usage while producing massive amounts of traffic. The case is part of a broader legal dispute in South Korea about whether content providers such as Netflix should be compelled to pay local internet service usage fees.
According to the court filing, SK calculated that Netflix will have to pay a network use charge of roughly 27.2 billion won in 2020 alone. Netflix stated in a statement that its investments resulted in the creation of about 16,000 employments in South Korea, with an economic impact of approximately 5.6 trillion won. Netflix's VP of content for Korea, Kang Dong-Han, claims that the company's investment in South Korea's entertainment sector has resulted in a $4.7 billion economic impact.
Netflix's status as the country's second-largest data traffic generator after Google's YouTube has been highlighted by the success of the hit series Squid Game and other offerings, but the two companies are the only ones not paying network usage fees, which other content providers such as Amazon, Apple, and Facebook are paying, according to SK.