ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said the government should not use placement marketing to achieve its political objectives and must keep distance between news and promotions.
“Ma is opposed to government PR campaigns that could be construed by the public as news,”Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang said Dec. 27.
The government will continue with promotional efforts aimed at informing the public of its policies, but such efforts will be clearly stated, Lo said.
Echoing the spokesman’s remarks, the National Communications Commission said it is against placement marketing by the government but cannot regulate this area without changes to current legislation.
According to Lo, the Cabinet has already mapped out a number of guidelines pertaining to government promotion campaigns.
“These include, restricting support of individual figures, clearly identifying sources and ensuring content does not contain any political objectives,” he said. (SB