Most respondents disagreed with the statement that “fake news is a part of freedom of speech, so the government should not take action against it,” survey results released yesterday by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy showed.
Asked if they agreed with the statement, 80.5 of respondents said that they did not, while only 14.7 percent said that they did.
Meanwhile, 91.7 percent of people said that disinformation could affect the judgement of its recipients when it comes to public affairs, with 68.7 percent saying that people could fall victim and become misinformed about such issues.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
In addition, 65.7 percent of respondents said that disinformation would “seriously hinder” the development of Taiwanese democracy.
The results suggest that most people believe that the government should moderately clamp down on misinformation, foundation chief executive officer Fort Liao (廖福特) said.
In democratic societies, the media should be allowed to operate freely, but if the media itself is manipulated, particularly by an authoritarian regime that aims to harm Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, “then the role of media becomes different from that defined by press freedom as we understand it,” he said.
Taiwanese media firms should operate independently and not be manipulated, Liao said, adding that this matters more than their political leanings.
About 57 percent of respondents said that they were willing to fight to defend Taiwan if China launched an assault on the nation for declaring independence, up from 56.7 percent last year, while 31 percent said they would not, compared with 35.9 percent last year.
If China attempts to annex Taiwan by force, 68.2 percent of respondents said that they would go to war to defend the nation, while 20.5 percent said they would not, down from 25.7 percent last year.
The results show that Taiwanese are highly inclined to defend the nation’s democracy, and this is especially true of people aged 20 to 29, Liao said.
Misinformation is less rampant in highly democratized nations and often affects half-authoritarian countries more, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology research fellow Lin Thung-hong (林宗弘) said, citing his recent research.
The survey results show that Taiwanese believe that misinformation is unscrupulous and should be kept at bay, Lin said.
The foundation commissioned National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center to conduct the survey, which was done from April 11 to April 16 by sampling cellphone and landline numbers. It collected 1,262 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.93 percentage points.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
RSS