Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday announced that she would sue three political commentators for defamation during the run-up to the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24 last year and afterward.
In a Facebook post, the former Kaohsiung mayor said there had been a wave of slander and personal attacks against her during the campaign by certain media outlets, commentators and politicians, but the smears and rumormongering worsened after the polls so she felt she had no choice but to seek legal remedy.
She named Wu Tzu-chia (吳子嘉), Hsieh Han-ping (謝寒冰) and Chang Yu-hua (張友驊) as the respondents in her planned lawsuits, which she said she would pay for herself.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
Citing information gathered by her attorney, Chen said from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31, the alleged smears against her totaled nearly 300 minutes on talk shows aired by Eastern Broadcasting (EBC) and CtiTV.
Forty minutes of one episode, or nearly half of its airtime, were spent attacking her, Chen said, calling the alleged defamation “systemic” and “organized.”
The programs were CtiTV’s News Tornado (新聞龍捲風) and EBC’s Crucial Moment (關鍵時刻), her office said in a statement.
The alleged smears included a claim that the wife of the chairman of a state-owned business had learned how to cook Japanese cuisine for Chen, the statement said.
In the face of a rapidly deteriorating media environment, inaction could lead to society becoming unable to engage in rational dialogue, she said.
While in less severe cases it could constitute online bullying, in the worst cases, it could jeopardize public safety or even develop into extremism or pervasive verbal abuse, she said.
The extensive spread online of comments that have not been fact-checked or that were simply fabricated not only damages a person’s reputation, but also puts the public in the dangerous position of having no means of knowing or determining the truth, she added.
Chen said that she believes people are “mistaken” in believing that freedom of speech allows for comments that are biased, “absurd” or fabricated, as well as those that have not been fact-checked or damage individual or public interests.
She could not sit by while freedom of speech is being abused and misused, she said.
Even if she wins the lawsuits, it would be difficult to restore her reputation, because the allegations would continue to exist online, she said.
However, filing the lawsuits was a “necessary” action in light of a “democratic politics” that is “facing disintegration” and a Taiwanese society that is “in crisis, yet unaware,” she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS