The Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission said on Feb. 12 it will conduct a fact-finding investigation into 17 value-added telecommunications operators that restricted the deletion of rectangular ads that cover content on personal computer (PC) or smartphone screens, causing inconvenience to users.

The commission will focus on whether this falls under a prohibited act under the Telecommunications Business Act: restricting the deletion of ads that unfairly cover information that is not advertising.

Key targets include ads that cannot be removed because there is no deletion mark, or ads that lead to other ads or webpages even when the delete button is pressed.

Specifically, the scope includes various types of interference with users’ right to remove ads, such as cases where the deletion mark is small or difficult to identify, acts that forcibly change an ad’s position regardless of the user’s intent when deletion is attempted, and acts that do not immediately display the deletion mark.

The commission monitored 300 news sites in the first and second halves of last year, and will investigate operators caught a cumulative total of 2 times.

If illegal conduct is confirmed through the investigation, it plans to take strict measures in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.