Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet Begins Anew as the “Digital Justice Network”!
The Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet held an extraordinary general meeting on Friday, October 24, 2025, and decided to change its name to the “Digital Justice Network.” Please join us in celebrating the new beginning of the Digital Justice Network!
The Reason for the Name Change
Founded on November 14, 1998, under the banner of “Building an Independent Network for Social Movements,” Jinbonet has supported the informatization of progressive social movements for the past 27 years. To promote communication and solidarity among social movements, it has provided various internet services such as web hosting, mailing lists, online communities, and blogs. It has also operated ‘Socialfunch’, a platform designed to facilitate fundraising and support for social movements, and assisted labor unions in building their information systems.
However, with the widespread use of the internet, the role of supporting the informatization of social movements has gradually diminished. The ‘Cham Sae Sang Community (Bulletin Board)’ service has been discontinued, and the remaining services, such as webmail and blogs, are being maintained at a minimal level. While services like Socialfunch, which contribute to fundraising for social movements, will continue for the time being, we believe that Jinbonet has reached its limits as an independent network.
Meanwhile, the global monopoly of internet platforms has become increasingly entrenched. Based on the worldwide concentration of personal data, these platforms are expanding their monopolistic power into various offline services. With the advancement of new technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, surveillance of individuals has become more sophisticated, and platform algorithms have reached a point where they threaten democracy itself.
Since its early days, Jinbonet has not only worked to build independent networks for social movements but has also advocated for digital rights, including freedom of expression and privacy protection. Today, our focus has shifted toward defending human rights and the public interest from the monopolies of Big Tech and the surveillance of power. In particular, as artificial intelligence develops rapidly, we are taking the lead in protecting the rights of “affected people,” ensuring that AI does not become a tool for discrimination or surveillance.
Over the past 27 years, Jinbonet has continuously strived to adapt to changes in technology and society. Today, we recognize that our organization has evolved—from one that operated an independent network for social movements to one that works for digital rights and social justice. In light of this transformation, we believe it is appropriate to change our organization’s name and mission to better reflect our renewed identity. By doing so, we can more clearly and effectively communicate our vision and activities to the public and engage with citizens in our shared pursuit of justice and rights in the digital age.
Why “Digital Justice Network”?
Digital justice represents not only our core area of activity—digital rights—but also a broader and more comprehensive vision. Digital rights extend beyond what is traditionally understood as “internet rights.” They encompass not only freedom of expression and privacy protection on the internet, but also the broader civic rights of individuals in an age where digital and AI technologies are applied to every aspect of life—from autonomous vehicles to interconnected devices. In this sense, digital rights have become the citizenship rights of the information society, and “digital justice” expresses our commitment to ensuring that technology serves fairness, equality, and human dignity in this digital era.
We also believe that threats to digital rights arise within the context of unjust social structures and unequal power relations. These include the logic of capital that prioritizes profit expansion over human rights and the public good, the state power that serves this logic, the growing global monopoly led by so-called Big Tech, and the expansion of surveillance capabilities by both the state and corporations to suppress resistance against the system.
In particular, the development of artificial intelligence has further deepened and strengthened these unequal power relations and surveillance capacities. Therefore, while our activities center on advocating for digital rights, we understand that this work must go hand in hand with transforming the very social structures and power dynamics that infringe upon those rights. We believe that the term “Digital Justice” best captures this vision — the pursuit of fairness, equality, and human dignity in the digital age, achieved through both the protection of rights and the transformation of the systems that threaten them.
The movement for digital justice is not something we can achieve alone. We seek solidarity not only with other civil society and human rights organizations that advocate for digital rights, but also more broadly with all groups and individuals striving to transform unjust social structures and unequal power relations. The word “Network” in our new name reflects this spirit of solidarity—expressed in a way that resonates with the digital nature of our work. It also carries the meaning of inheriting and continuing the legacy of the former Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet.
Please join us in celebrating the new beginning of the Digital Justice Network!
