Previously, media operated under different laws depending on the technology they applied, such as satellite or cable. In order to adapt to the trend of convergence, globalization and deregulation in the media industry, the NCC attempted to integrate all previous legislation into one act. The current draft contains 11 chapters, with 185 articles in total.
The draft law is the first in Taiwan to officially ban speech that promotes racial and sexual discrimination, according to Article 148 of the act. Media companies that violated the law would be fined about US$900 to US$30,000. If violations persisted, the NCC could continue to fine the offenders.
Confrontations between different ethnic groups always emerged as a campaign strategy when elections approach, Howard Shyr, deputy director of the NCC, said in a Sept. 12 report by Taiwan's Central News Agency. The intention of the NCC was to prevent the media from being used as a political tool and also to enhance harmony of different social groups in Taiwan, he explained. In response to critics who said the law would endanger the freedom of speech, Shyr said that the intentional provocation of racial conflict was beyond the scope of the freedom of speech.
NCC Director Su Yeong-chin said in a Sept. 12 report by the Chinese-language China Times that there were already many precedents for dealing with coverage that discriminated against ethnic groups.
To name one case, the European Union agreed to regulations against hate crimes and racism in April 2007. The regulations tasked E.U. nations with imposing sanctions upon people or organizations that publicly incited violence against certain groups based on race, religion or ethnicity. E.U. countries were also urged to prosecute offenders in connection with genocides and to imprison people for up to three years if they denied the existence of genocides, such as the Holocaust during World War II. No one should provoke hatred among ethnic groups with discriminating speech, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun said in a Sept. 12 CNA report. There would be more disputes, however, if the guidelines defining "discriminating speech" were not clear, he pointed out.
Sebrena Chen, president of the Association of Taiwan Journalists, also voiced her doubt about the standards. She said that better methods were self-regulation within the media and an external monitoring mechanism. The government should evaluate the independence of media organizations when they sought to renew their broadcast licenses, Chen was quoted as saying by the CNA Sept. 12.
NCC officials explained that it was difficult to set universal standards, and they are discussing details of these regulations on a case-by-case basis. The NCC emphasized that it was not trying to expand government control over the media, and that the law calls for stronger internal regulation from media organizations themselves.
For example, Article 149 asks the media to follow the examples of foreign media in designating a staff member to serve as an ombudsman, such as Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and the U.S.-based National Public Radio. An ombudsman is a person with the responsibilities of judging the accuracy, fairness and balance of news reports and of investigating complaints from individual readers, viewers and listeners. Article 149 also requires that media organizations set up an oversight mechanism where independent advisors reviewed the content of news programs and evaluated whether they met standards of professional journalism.
The draft also provided three proposals that would clearly regulate the level of ownership allowed for overseas investors in local television and broadcasting companies. The first option is to keep the status quo, permitting foreign investors to own no more than 60 percent of a cable or satellite channel and no stake in broadcasters. The second proposal is to raise the stake to 20 percent for a broadcaster. The third proposal is the second proposal, combined with the cancellation of the ownership limits in a cable or satellite channel.
The act still requires approval from the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan. The NCC will hold conferences to discuss this legislation and a public hearing in late September, before submitting it to the Cabinet at the end of October.
Write to Amber Wu at amber0207@mail.gio.gov.tw