‘FOREIGN FORCES’: Any broadcaster that is found to have contravened the Anti-infiltration Act would be turned over to prosecutors, the media regulator said

Taipei Times
Date:  Mar 17, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The government is closely monitoring whether the nation’s broadcast media are adhering to the principle of editorial independence, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said over the weekend. It said those that allow hostile foreign entities to interfere in their operations could face criminal punishment.

The broadcast media regulator made the announcement after the US Department of State last week unveiled its 2019 Human Rights Report, which expressed concerns over Beijing’s efforts to influence the media.

As an example, the report said that a Financial Times journalist was in July last year sued by Want Want China Times Group, which has substantial operations in China, after she exposed “coordination between Want Want media outlets in Taiwan and the PRC [People’s Republic of China] Taiwan Affairs Office [TAO] regarding the content of Want Want publications.”

The report covers a wide range of issues, the commission said, adding that it would closely watch whether Taiwan’s broadcast media are preserving their professionalism and editorial independence.    [FULL  STORY]