National Communications Commission (NCC) Commissioner Wei-Ching Wang met with representatives of Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), including consultants Ben Graham Jones, Peter Knowles and head of Taiwan Office Chris Liu, and researcher of Citizen Congress Watch, Foong Zhen-Hoe at the NCC on November 23rd.

NCC explained how in September they had already assisted the Central Election Commission (CEC) in reminding broadcasting media of relevant regulations of the “Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act” and the “Public officials Election and Recall Act”, regarding campaign advertisements, broadcasting content pertaining to the election, and release of polls. Additionally, NCC plans to organize a meeting and invite broadcasting media and the CEC before the election, to call on media to be more accurate, objective, and facts-based in covering elections and vote counting.

Commissioner Wei-Ching Wang noted that NCC urges the media to fulfill their social responsibilities within the premise of media independence and freedom of speech of the Constitution. As such, unless broadcasting content is in violation of the Radio and Television Act and other applicable laws and regulations and requires NCC to take measures accordingly, or is in violation of the aforementioned “election and recall acts” whereby cases are referred to CEC, NCC shall ensure media independence and respect the media’s freedom in broadcasting content and expression.

WFD has encouraged and strengthened democracy and its practice in various countries. As a longtime observer of election issues around the world, WFD has been working in Taiwan over the past two years. The visit took place so that WFD could gain greater understanding of regulations pertaining to electoral coverage in Taiwan, such as measures taken to ensure impartial election reporting, and how to deal with suspected false statement in reporting. Besides, WFD also took the opportunity to share experiences of election coverage in the UK.

Through this opportunity, NCC and WFD shared their observations of media coverage of election, and can look forward to further exchanges in the future.