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Freedom
of speech & expression in Taiwan |
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Taiwan |
Taiwan free expression |
in poor health or dying |
RSF
reiterates its recommendations:
(1)
Establish regulations that
effectively protect the independence of editorial departments ； strengthen the
National Communications Commission’s independence
(2)
Establish
regulations against disinformation；create a process that includes judicial
review
(3)
reinforce the guarantees of their
editorial independence so that they cannot be suspected of political
bias
(4)
Support the emergence of new media
outlets that aim to uphold journalistic ethics
(5)
Emphasise
critical thinking and media literacy in academic
curricula and
public education actions
rsf.org/en/taiwans-general-elections-rsf-urges-candidates-strengthen-country-s-media-sector-against
Taiwan's press freedom situation
has been "impaired" by some "serious problems,".
The political polarization of the media in Taiwan
and the sensational approach that Taiwanese media takes to report certain news
has posed an "obstacle" to the public getting factual and objective information.
RSF had for the past year repeatedly called for Taiwan's government
to take some measures to address these problems, such as providing some serious
funding for public broadcasters without compromising such entities' editorial
independence. So far, nothing really ambitious
has been taken,
only been mostly speaking or supporting some
small-scale initiatives. The working environment for
journalists in Taiwan was "quite toxic" and that such a situation continued to
impact Taiwan's press freedom.
In East Asia, which includes Taiwan, China, South
Korea, North Korea, Japan, and Mongolia, the press freedom situation is "getting
worse" . Taiwan got No.
38 place in Press Freedom Index 2022. brief
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202205030011
rsf.org/en/index
| Foreign Policy (foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/10/taiwan-election-tsai-disinformation-china-war-fake-news-hitting-wrong-targets/) |
| nTaiwan,
Cedric Alviani (
director, Reporters Without Borders)
noted, regularly places among the top Asian countries in RSF's annual Press
Freedom Index—but it's not because the Taiwanese media is so outstanding.”
Instead, he said, it is “because the whole of Asia is run by strongmen, by
dictatorships". n coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): When the (Taiwan) government is in a position to declare something ‘fake news,’ it just opens the door to abuse. nRSF: “In no case can the executive power take the responsibility to decide what is fake news and what is legitimate news,” “By finding scapegoats, blaming China, and not solving the problem, Taiwan is actually letting the gap narrow between itself and China.” |
★ US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2023-3-20
(state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
Defamation and public humiliation are criminal
offenses. Reporters faced the threat of legal action under the liberal libel
laws.
★
China
Times (中國時
|
★ Reuters Report 2022 |
||||
|
proportion that trusts most news most of the time |
proportion who mostly read news in text |
proportion who think news org.s in their market are politically far apart |
proportion who accessed news via email in the last week |
|
| Thailand | 53 | 56 | 48 | 16 |
| Japan | 44 | 67 | 26 | 13 |
| Singapore | 43 | 65 | 16 | 16 |
| Australia | 41 | 61 | 29 | 17 |
| Hong Kong | 41 | 60 | 36 | 14 |
| India | 41 | 58 | 33 | |
| Indonesia | 39 | 69 | 18 | 13 |
| Philippines | 37 | 47 | 32 | 18 |
| Malaysia | 36 | 63 | 23 | 15 |
| S. Korea | 30 | 58 | 15 | 10 |
| Taiwan | 27 | 54 | 38 | 12 |
| reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-06/Digital_News-Report_2022.pdf | ||||
★
China Times (中國時
★ justsecurity.org,
Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13:
Invited by Taiwan's government, an international
human rights experts panel conducted a five-day review from
May 9-13 in Taipei of the country's implementation of two United
Nations' human rights-related covenants, namely the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
freedom
of speech and of peaceful protest continues to be unduly restricted.
★ US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2022-4-12
(state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
nCTi
News was forced off the air after the National Communications Commission
declined to renew its broadcast license. Opposition politicians and some
academics and commentators claimed the decision was politically motivated
retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.
n
Reporters faced online bullying and the threat of legal action,
particularly under the liberal libel laws. These
provisions allow the subjects of unfavorable press coverage to press criminal
and civil charges directly against journalists and media outlets for defamation.
n
In May the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Chia-yu Lee, who was
convicted of inciting individuals to burn the Republic of China flag in 2020
after a lower court initially acquitted him on the grounds that his act was a
form of constitutionally protected speech.
n PRC
reportedly continued to influence Taiwan media outlets through pressure on the
business interests of their parent companies in the PRC. Taiwan journalists
reported difficulty publishing content critical of the PRC.
|
★
Reuters Report, 2022 |
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news |
TV, radio, print | news | on-line | ||
| TVBS News | 45 | Yahoo News | 40 | ||
| Eastern Broadcasting News | 38 | ETtoday | 38 | ||
| SanLih E-television News | 32 | TVBS online | 34 | ||
|
Trust in news (27%) has fallen
back after last year’s COVID-19 boost, and remains amongst the lowest in
our multi-market survey. In a deeply polarised media landscape, many
brands are trusted by one group but distrusted by another. Notable
exceptions are business publications CommonWealth and Business Weekly,
which have increased their trust levels, bucking overall trends
|
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Trust in news ? Reuters Institute, 2021 |
|
| Trust in news overall 31% | Trust in news I used 38% |
| Trust in news in search 29% | Trust in social media 21% |
| Public service television remains the most trusted in our survey, followed by the economic news media (CommonWealth and Business Weekly). The rest of the news brands in the polarised media landscape are trusted by one group, but distrusted by another. | |
★
★ China Times, editorial, 2022-9-30: The NCC's media intervention under the order of the ruling party, such as the closure of cti TV channel and 移動頻道, not only undermines the professional autonomy of the media, violates freedom of speech, but also violates the basic principles of a democratic country chinatimes.com/opinion/20220929005148-262101?chdtv
★
Focus Taiwan, 2022-8-20:
A NCC's
proposed bill to regulate the content of online platforms has been
shelved, amid heavy criticism from service providers and the public,
who have expressed concerns about the implications for free speech,
privacy and the future of the internet industry.
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202208200008
United Daily
★ China Times, editorial, 2022-9-29: The shame of Taiwan's democracy / The majority of public opinion call for closing the NCC; the Tsai Ing-wen government's dirty claws closed CTI TV, and gave pass to Mirror TV. So many pan-green media, TV celebrity, internet army and NCC fed and raised by the government gradually damage the foundation of our democracy. brief chinatimes.com/opinion/20220928005170-262101?chdtv
★
United Daily, editorial,
2022-6-5: Since
DPP winning
legislative majority for the first time
in 2016,
Taiwan's government kept abusing human rights, including
suppressing freedom of expression, or restricting personal freedom in the name
of national security, the means they took
are no less than the authoritarian period they accused.
udn.com/news/story/7338/6364498?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
◎
Political interference is rare and less tolerated, but Taiwan’s journalists are suffering from a very polarised media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business interests on the mainland. Beijing is also suspected of orchestrating online disinformation campaigns – a threat that could lead to questionable retaliatory measures by Taiwan such as refusing visas to Chinese journalists regarded as hostile 。rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-against-disinformation-blocked-more-130-countries
◎
state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/
Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to freedom of expression, including for the press.
Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.
★ International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2021 Global State of Democracy
(idea.int/gsod/sites/default/files/2021-11/spotlight-on-taiwan-gsod2021.pdf)
SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN
PANDEMIC AND MEDIA INTEGRIT / social media, which arguably plays an even more important role in official messaging than its mainstream media counterparts
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pic. :
The
sites group was ranked No.1 by "Taiwan
freedom of expression"
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pic. :
The sites group was ranked No.1 by "Taiwan
freedom of expression" |
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pic. :
No.1 "freedom
of
expression in Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia,2022-5-29,
1-25-2020
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| media |
Cti TV side |
NCC side |
| Reuters 11-18-2020 |
...citing evidence of interference from a
Beijing-friendly tycoon amid fears over China's campaign to win support
on the island. there was no evidence that CTi had received Chinese government funding. and key shareholder Tsai has previously rejected accusations of newroom interference. Taiwan's main opposition party, said it opposed the decision, as it could have a "chilling effect, strongly impacting press freedom" |
CTi had been fined for several violations such as failure to check facts and endangering the public interest |
| Bloomberg 11-18-2020 |
Taiwan Shuts Pro-China TV Channel
in Battle over Press Freedom TV station says its closure is politically motivated the latest example of the often fraught relationship between press freedom and concerns over Chinese influence in Taiwan’s fiercely competitive media landscape. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-18/f-16-disappears-off-taiwan-s-eastern-coast-fate-still-unclear |
NCC says Chung T’ien News violated broadcast
regulations The key issue is
its largest shareholder Tsai Eng-meng is directly and indirectly
involved in the production of news programs |
| Guardian, 11-18-2020 |
“Today is the darkest day for freedom of
the press and freedom of speech in the 30 years since Taiwan’s
liberation,” CTi has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for Beijing and lobbying against the Democratic Progressive party (DPP) government, led by Tsai Ing-wen, and in favour of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/18/pro-china-tv-station-in-taiwan-ordered-off-air-over-disinformation |
Pro-China TV station in Taiwan ordered off
air after Taiwan’s media regulator found it had failed to address
serious and frequent findings of bias and disinformation. CTi had devoted 70% of its airtime to the KMT mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu, who unsuccessfully challenged Tsai in the presidential election. In January, CTi was fined for airing false statements by a KMT politician without factchecking or interrogating the claims before broadcast |
| AFP, Yahoo News Australia, 11-18-2020 |
Many of the large media outlets are openly
partisan, backing Beijing-friendly politicians or their opponents
"It is completely and utterly
hypocritical for governments to invoke press freedom only when it
fits their agenda," tweeted KMT chairman Johnny Chiang.
It called for NCC to make public all
the evidence it examined and apply the same standards to all future
license reviews regardless of their political orientation.https://au.news.yahoo.com/taiwan-pulls-plug-china-friendly-100647362.html
|
He has sparked criticism in the past
for being overtly pro-Beijing and imposing his political preferences
on the media outlets he owns.
The NCC accused Tsai of making direct
and indirect interventions in news coverage by CTi.
One example was a false report that local farmers had to dump massive quantities of pomelo fruit last year because they were unable to sell their produce to mainland China as relations soured. |
| Times of India, 11-18-2020 | The channel, which vowed to fight the decision in court, says the government is seeking to silence those who do not support its policies. | Taiwan's government has repeatedly said China has stepped up efforts, including a media campaign, to infiltrate and gain influence on the democratic island |
| SCMP, 11-18-2020 | CTI: The Tsai government has closed CTi; press freedom is dead! | CTi is seen as pro-China and the decision marks the first time the regulator has effectively shut down a television news station It cited evidence of editorial interference from major shareholder Tsai Eng-meng |
| The Straits Times, 11-18-2020 |
The rejection of CTi cable's request is the first time Taiwan has
shut, even though indirectly, a television news station since the
regulator, the National Communications Commission was set up in
2006.
The decision provoked immediate anger from CTi and Taiwan's main
opposition party, which called it an attack on media freedom.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-cti-cable-shut-down-china-tycoon-tsai-eng-meng-13585436
|
CTi had been fined for several violations such as failure to check facts and endangering the public interest |
| Focus on Taiwan, 11-18-2020 |
at the time of the
hearing that the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) government was looking to close the
station, effectively threatening Taiwan's media freedom
CTiTV
called the day "the darkest" for the freedom of press and speech
since martial law was lifted over 30 years ago.
In
denying the license renewal based on two reasons -- the number of
complaints that led to fines imposed on the station and the
interference of a major shareholder -- the NCC "ignored the issue of
political manipulation and disregarded communication theory and
practice," CTiTV said.
"Under
the NCC's current standards, every news stations in Taiwan should be
shut down,"
|
Though CTi News submitted eight measures during the review process to improve the situation, Chen contended that none of them would have eliminated the interference of major shareholders in its news. |
| China Times, editorial 11-19-2020 |
Freedom of the press is dead! ! !
The ruling authorities ignored the Constitution's guarantees for
freedom of speech. The National Communications Commission (NCC)
betrayed the establishment purpose of the Constitutional Freedom of
Speech stipulated in Article 1 of its Organic Law and decided to
shut down the CTI News Channel. This was a naked, a blatant
political ruling. NCC finished the assignment Taiwan president
Tsai gave.
In the 2018 elections, CTI TV stood on the opposite side of the ruling party. As a result, the DPP suffered a fiasco, the authorities grew enmity and decided to revenge CTI. The reasons NCC claimed for shutting down the CTI are completely ignorant of media practice and even violate the basic principles of communication. If the same standards are used, should all news stations in Taiwan be shut down? The gov, wants to kill one to scare many, and forces all media to follow the authorities, otherwise the same would be the case. |
United Daily, China Times, Apple Daily, Liberty Times are four major news in Taiwan. |
| UDN, editorial, 11-19-2020 | NCC passed the elimination of CTi News with "no objection" . Another symbolic meaning is: this is a "beheading" of Taiwan's freedom of speech, because the DPP government no longer allows "objection." From today on, NCC is no longer an independent institution ! | |
| Apple Daily, editorial, 11-19-2020 |
We
express our regret for NCC's Shutting Cti TV Channel
The
National Communications Commission (NCC) rejected the Zhongtian News
Channel’s renewal case results in a harm to the image of Taiwan’s
press freedom, We express our regret for this.
|
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| LTN | no comment | |
Five measures to reinforce
Taiwan’s media:
1) establish
regulations that effectively protect the independence of editorial
departments from their employers and boards of directors
2) create in law a “duty of care” that would oblige online platforms
to protect both users’ freedom of speech, and safety in regards to
hate speech and manipulation
3) upscale the amount of financial resources allocated to public
media outlets
4) support the emergence of new media outlets that aim to uphold
journalistic ethics, through economic and fiscal incentives
following a similar model to start-up development
5) emphasize critical thinking and media literacy in academic
curricula and public education actions (brief)
| Apple Daily (蘋果日報) 12-16-2019, brief
Taiwan media have been polluted by
sensual and embedded advertising ( fake news on the surface,
ads. to the bone) for long run, furthermore, political power
pan-blue and pan-green polarize the media field and impede
the check-and-balance system, some media workers can not
expect legal protection while
For full text pls. read Apple Daily
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| by Cedrie Alviani , RSF president of Taiwan branch (台灣分會理事長) | ||
◆ Pro-Beijing
interests have bought up a huge portion of Taiwanese media and
coordinate with Beijing to spread propaganda and fake news and
manipulate social media. ...
◆
here in Taiwan, it’s China that
dominates every discussion. Beijing’s malign influence is apparent
everywhere, while the United States is seen as largely absent.
Washington must wake up to the danger of China’s massive effort to
infiltrate, undermine and eventually abolish Taiwan’s democracy ...
The Chinese government uses economic coercion to both recruit and
punish Taiwanese leaders. Meanwhile, China is working overtime to
strip Taiwan of its diplomatic allies and keep it out of
multilateral institutions. Beijing is literally trying to erase the
country from the map.
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pic.: No.1 "free expression in Taiwan" on US Google, 3-11-2020
pic.: No.1 "freedom of
expression in Taiwan" on US Google, 3-11-2020
pic. :
No.2 "free
expression in Taiwan" on US Google,1-25-2020
pic. :
No.2 "freedom
of
expression in Taiwan" on US Google,1-25-2020
pic. : No.1 "Taiwan freedom of expression" on MetaGER of Europe , 10-25-2019
pic. : No.1 "Taiwan freedom of expression" on Yandex of Russia第1 , 10-25-2019
pic. : No.1 "Taiwan freedom of expression" on Yippy (IBM) , 10-25-2019
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pic. : pic. : No.1 "Taiwan free expression" on Yippy (IBM) , 10-25-2019
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pic. : No.1 "free expression in Taiwan" on US Google,7-23-2019, test in NTUH
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| pic. left: Apple Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion:
Freedom of speech is the bottom line which should never be lost, the
government should not create chilling effect by fishing in trouble
water.
pic. right: China Times 3-29-2019 headline news: Defend 100% freedom of speech, democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the bone is not allowed. |
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The research institute of NHK
( Japan’s national broadcaster): influential media
conglomerates in Taiwan have become pro-Beijing; their major shareholders
have been given greater business opportunities in China’s vast market.
Major Taiwanese newspapers and TV stations regularly feature content that
hardly differs from that in China or routinely heap praise on Chinese
leaders...
◆
●
● business leaders in Taiwan raised concerns that journalists whose reports were perceived as hurting the interests of businesses could face retaliation in the form of lawsuits and other threats.
● Censorship or Content Restrictions: Local academics and media activists alleged that self-censorship continued since some media presented news stories slanted in favor of the PRC due to political considerations and the influence of local businesses with close ties to the PRC. PRC authorities reinforced such pressure by using access denial to punish Taiwan media outlets whose coverage they deem to be insufficiently consistent with PRC policies...
◆
National Security Bureau confirmed their investigation of Facebook
and other communities on the net, for monitoring, controlling and
collecting "controversial information" including those "influence
national security",
"blacken
("詆譭", a term of Martial Law
period / UDN, 11-3-2018)
president", "disrupt social stability",
"distort policy" and
"disturb national mechanism",
"fight governmental prestige", "influence public mind and morale";
UDN 11-3-2018:
all internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in
all users' personal information.
UDN critiques pointed out "Big Brother is watching you" almost for sure lead
to "Chilling Effect". ps: Intel. sys. suspectedly
controls free expression of some websites not related to China.
◆◆
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pic. left: KMT legislator : all internet service providers in Taiwan were invited by the government and requested to hand in all users' personal information.
Taiwan's intelligence
"National Security Bureau"
The head of NSB
expressed that investigations
UDN 11-3-2018 headline
news : |
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pic. left: Taiwan
president Tsai I. W. |
