National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) students have joined those from National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Chengchi University (NCCU) in calling for a boycott of CtiTV News over what they call its “fake news coverage.”
The call was made by NTNU’s Nylon’s Canteen, a student group that has about 2,000 followers on Facebook, after NTU and NCCU students earlier this week launched similar campaigns calling for a ban on CtiTV broadcasts on campus.
“There has been incident after incident in which disinformation and fake news were produced by Chinese-funded entities. They have not only violated the basic principles of honesty and genuineness in human communications, but also undermined the principle of trust, which has served as a foundation for democracy,” the group said in an online petition.
Screen grab from Nylon’s Canteen’s Facebook page
The group also criticized communication platforms, such as the Line messaging app, social media sites and news channels, for having “reduced themselves to manufacturers of false information designed to aggravate social division.”
The purpose of the petition, which aims to safeguard “real freedom” by steering away from fake news, is to forge a consensus among NTNU students and faculty before they can issue a collective demand to restaurants on campus and around the school, the group said.
“We encourage the petition participants to take action by switching TV channels,” the group said, adding that it would communicate with restaurants after collecting enough signatures to explain why they refuse to watch news channels that produce “fake news.”
CtiTV News was on Wednesday fined NT$1 million (US$32,441) for failing to adhere to a fact-checking mechanism stipulated in the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法).
In January, it was fined NT$200,000 by the National Communications Commission for failing to fact-check its reports about then-Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai’s (陳其邁) rally in Cishan District (旗山) in November last year.
Separately, Shih Hsin University journalism student Tu Kuan-lin (杜冠霖) on Friday launched a similar online petition calling for a boycott of Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時), which owns CtiTV.
Tu accused CtiTV of tarnishing the reputation of journalists.
CtiTV’s failure to practice ethical journalism has made it a negative example for journalism students, Tu said, adding that the channel has hidden behind the banner of “freedom of the press” and paints itself as a victim to avoid making corrections to its news content.
“Does it know no shame?” Tu asked.
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS