AI-Mediated Public Communication, Platform Accountability, and Democratic Development: AComparative Study of the United States and South Korea

Abstract

This article examines how artificial intelligence governance reshapes platform accountability, journalism
institutions, public trust, and democratic development through a comparative study of the United States and
South Korea. The study argues that AI-mediated communication has become a decisive governance problem
because generative AI, algorithmic recommendation, synthetic media, automated advertising, and platform
moderation increasingly influence how citizens encounter news, political claims, civic information, and
institutional authority. Drawing on comparative media systems theory, platform governance, political
communication, and socio-technical institutional analysis, the article compares the United States’
framework-based and market-oriented AI governance model with South Korea’s statute-based and
developmental-state-oriented AI Basic Act model. Empirically, the article analyzes AI policy documents,
communication-regulatory frameworks, platform governance reports, digital news indicators, OECD and
UNESCO guidelines, World Bank digital development reports, and institutional records from NIST, MSIT,
Ofcom-style comparative regulators, Reuters Institute, and Korean media institutions. The findings indicate
that the United States prioritizes voluntary risk management, innovation capacity, sectoral regulation, and
platform self-governance, whereas South Korea combines national AI industrial strategy, statutory trust
obligations, labeling requirements, safety institutions, and public-interest communication safeguards. The
comparison reveals that AI governance influences democratic communication through four mechanisms:

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algorithmic visibility, synthetic-content accountability, journalism-distribution power, and institutional trust.
The article contributes to Communication and Media Studies by theorizing AI governance as an emergent
layer of media governance linking communication infrastructures, platform power, public knowledge, and
social development