As the country enters the presidential and legislative election season, the media are likely to be flooded with all kinds of election news, but it is sometimes hard to distinguish between true and false information.
For candidates who are sabotaged or defamed by such disinformation, even if they can clear their names in court afterward, the elections would likely be over by that time and the damage would have been done.
In the US, it is not easy to win a defamation lawsuit against a news outlet.
In a 1964 case against the New York Times, the US Supreme Court ruled that to sustain a claim of defamation or libel, the First Amendment of the US constitution requires that the plaintiff show that the defendant knew that a statement was false or was reckless in publishing the information without investigating whether it was accurate.
This provides news outlets with solid protection from defamation verdicts, and 60 years later, a high level of protection for the news media in defamation cases still exists.
When US electronic voting company Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against Fox News for reporting that US President Joe Biden defeated former US president Donald Trump in the US presidential election because Dominion cheated, people therefore expected a long legal drama. Surprisingly, the trial was over before it even started.
On the eve of the trial, Fox News on Tuesday last week reached a US$787 million settlement with the company.
Although the figure is about half the US$1.6 billion demanded by Dominion, the settlement is still a lot of money for a company with a market value of US$30 million to US$80 million.
The massive amount of compensation condemns Fox News, as it indicates the judge found that Fox News lied, and therefore came up with the jaw-dropping figure.
This is a warning to news media. Internal text messages and e-mails during the litigation process were valuable evidence.
Previous court documents based on such evidence showed that although famous hosts and top executives of Fox News all laughed in private at the election fraud allegations in 2020, they allowed the channel to sensationalize it in its shows.
The huge settlement is a strong message to other right-wing news outlets with legal disputes: If you lie, then you must pay the price.
Fair and impartial media are one of the key foundations of a democratic society under the rule of law, but this is difficult to achieve, as most media outlets are privately owned.
It also seems inappropriate for the government to monitor the media, because the media are meant to monitor the government.
In Taiwan, among the lawsuits between CTi TV and the National Communications Commission over the forced closure of CTi TV News in 2020, the commission lost nine consecutive cases. This shows that the government’s intervention in media management could cause greater problems.
The judiciary is the ultimate judge and gatekeeper. Whether it comes from the media or the government, if one deliberately defames or falsely accuses the other, courts should investigate and mete out punishments.
Unfortunately, the wheel of justice turns slowly, and justice sometimes comes late.
After delaying the lawsuit between Dominion and Fox News for nearly two years, is delayed justice still justice?
Chang Ruay-shiung is a former president of National Taipei University of Business.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Two major Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-People’s Liberation Army (PLA) power demonstrations in November 2024 highlight the urgency for Taiwan to pursue a military buildup and deterrence agenda that can take back control of its destiny. First, the CCP-PLA’s planned future for Taiwan of war, bloody suppression, and use as a base for regional aggression was foreshadowed by the 9th and largest PLA-Russia Joint Bomber Exercise of Nov. 29 and 30. It was double that of previous bomber exercises, with both days featuring combined combat strike groups of PLA Air Force and Russian bombers escorted by PLAAF and Russian fighters, airborne early warning
For three years and three months, Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has remained stalled. On Nov. 29, members meeting in Vancouver agreed to establish a working group for Costa Rica’s entry — the fifth applicant in line — but not for Taiwan. As Taiwan’s prospects for CPTPP membership fade due to “politically sensitive issues,” what strategy should it adopt to overcome this politically motivated economic exclusion? The situation is not entirely dim; these challenges offer an opportunity to reimagine the export-driven country’s international trade strategy. Following the US’ withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Since the end of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation has taken Taiwanese students to visit China and invited Chinese students to Taiwan. Ma calls those activities “cross-strait exchanges,” yet the trips completely avoid topics prohibited by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), such as democracy, freedom and human rights — all of which are universal values. During the foundation’s most recent Chinese student tour group, a Fudan University student used terms such as “China, Taipei” and “the motherland” when discussing Taiwan’s recent baseball victory. The group’s visit to Zhongshan Girls’ High School also received prominent coverage in
Late on Tuesday evening, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law. A BBC analysis cited as reasons the opposition parties’ majority in the National Assembly, their continued boycott of the national budget and the impeachment of key officials and prosecutors, leading to frequent government gridlock. During the years that Taiwan and South Korea traveled the road to democratization, our countries hit many potholes. Taiwan cannot return to the Martial Law era. Despite the similarities in our authoritarian past, Yoon’s political travails are far removed from the issues Taiwan faces. Yoon’s actions are a wake-up call to the world about
RSS