Draft revisions made to three media laws by the ROC Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee are problematic in terms of preventing monopolization and safeguarding freedom of speech, according to the National Communications Commission Jan. 10.
The proposed amendments to the Radio and Television, Cable Radio and Television, and Satellite Broadcasting acts approved by the committee Jan. 9 conflict or overlap with existing regulations, fail to clearly specify to whom they apply, and overlook the need for supporting measures to make the laws effective, the NCC said.
Most seriously, “the changes do not pay sufficient attention to the principle of proportionality, while making important restrictions and measures with serious legal consequences retroactive,” the commission said. “This runs counter to Taiwan’s hard-won rule of law, established with great effort over many years.”
Rules in the proposed amendments prohibiting financial institutions from holding any shares in media companies appear to go overboard in the attempt to separate finance and media, and are likely to be successfully challenged in the courts, as has happened with regulations regarding media ownership by political parties, the government and military, the NCC noted.
A requirement that all broadcasting firms regardless of type or scale have independent directors also seems to miss the point of reform, since the purpose of independent directors is to improve management, external engagement and oversight, while not necessarily being helpful to professional autonomy and avoidance of internal control over media freedom.
By the same token, charters of editorial independence are designed to prevent management from interfering with news content. They are a type of legal contract, and so should be coordinated with supportive measures for collective agreements, the NCC said. Moreover, they ought to apply only to self-produced programs.
Thus requiring all media groups to use charters of editorial independence, as the proposed revisions do, seems inappropriate, as satellite and cable TV systems only broadcast programs but do not produce any of their own.
With regard to the penalties provided for in the draft amendments, the commission noted that the person penalized for abusing the separation of financial and media institutions is not the person responsible for the action, which may violate the Administrative Penalty Act. Also, the severity of the penalty—revoking the company’s license—would seem to contravene the principle of proportionality.
The NCC said it plans to propose a draft bill on the prevention of media monopolies by March, and expects it to be sent to the Legislature by the end of June, as required by a motion passed in September by the Transportation Committee. (THN)