Criminal libel laws are a human rights issue that Taiwan should address, the US Department of State said in its 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which also expressed concern that China allegedly suppresses freedom of the press in Taiwan.
“Significant human rights issues included the existence of criminal libel laws,” said the chapter on Taiwan in the report, which was released on Tuesday.
It is the second consecutive year that the state department has criticized Taiwan for making defamation and public humiliation criminal offenses.
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Reporters in Taiwan face online bullying and the threat of legal action under “liberal libel laws,” the report said.
“Under the law, those who commit slander or libel by ‘pointing out or disseminating a fact which will injure the reputation of another’ are subject to a sentence of up to two years or a fine,” it added.
People who are slandered can ask for financial compensation and actions to rehabilitate their reputations, provisions that “allow the subjects of unfavorable press coverage to press criminal and civil charges directly against journalists and media outlets for defamation,” it said.
In practice, journalists are rarely convicted for criminal defamation, as the law also specifies that a person who makes “fair comment on a fact subject to public criticism” with “bona fide intent ... shall not be punished,” it added.
However, some legal academics and non-governmental organizations continue to urge that libel be exclusively treated as a civil matter, it said.
Regarding freedom of the press, the report said that Chinese officials “reportedly continued to influence Taiwanese media outlets through pressure on the business interests of their parent companies in the PRC [People’s Republic of China].”
It said that Taiwanese journalists reported difficulty publishing content critical of China, alleging that authorities in Beijing pressure Taiwanese businesses with operations in China to refrain from advertising with Taiwanese media firms that publish such material.
The report also highlighted a decision by Taipei in December 2020 not to renew CTi News’ (中天新聞台) broadcast license, which forced it to close down its cable news channel and switch to an online-only format.
The move was seen by opposition politicians, as well as some academics and commentators, “as a politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party,” the report said.
In the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken listed 10 countries and territories — Russia, China, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria, Myanmar, Belarus, Cuba, Sudan and Hong Kong — that have had declines in human rights and democracy.
Blinken said that over the years, there have been worrying declines in democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in many parts of the world.
“Unfortunately, the recession has continued” since the state department released its previous human rights report in March last year, he said.
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