POST-ELECTION PLAN: The Executive Yuan plans to amend a slew of laws to better combat fake news, such as allowing victims to file injunctions against perpetrators
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 17, 2018
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Wu Cheng-feng / Staff reporters
The Executive Yuan is identifying loopholes in regulations against fake news in the
Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka addresses a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and other legislation, and plans to propose rules to curb the spread of disinformation after the nine-in-one elections on Saturday next week, sources said yesterday.
Under Article 104 of the act, those who cause others or the public at large to suffer losses by disseminating false information through text, images, video, audio or speeches are punishable by up to five years in prison.
The Executive Yuan is deliberating an amendment to tighten the rule by adding language that outlaws “systematic and mass spreading of disinformation aimed at causing a candidate to lose an election,” a person with knowledge of the matter said.
On orders from Premier William Lai (賴清德), Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) had held a series of intergovernmental meetings to discuss ways to combat disinformation, the source said.
The proposal could take the form of an amendment to existing laws or a separate law, they said, adding that current rules have left the government powerless to combat fake news. [FULL STORY]
