The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit against SET News over its report that TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has been in talks with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to forge an alliance in next year’s elections.
The party is seeking NT$1 million (US$32,010) in compensation for defamation and tarnishing personal reputation, said Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), the campaign director of Ko’s presidential bid.
Based on “a source,” SET News on Thursday reported that Ko had a phone call with KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to forge an alliance between the two parties in next year’s presidential and legislative elections, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
“It [the news] was on the serious matter of presidential candidates, but SET News failed to verify the information with the relevant people at the TPP and the KMT, and did not produce a balanced report. It clearly violated ethical principles of journalism,” Huang said.
“It aimed to disseminate defamation, to tarnish Ko’s reputation,” she added.
The party initially just wanted SET News to withdraw the story, but Ko has decided to sue, “believing only that can have a deterrent effect,” Huang said.
TPP members will boycott SET News by not taking part in its political talk shows, TPP spokeswoman Chen Chih-han (陳智菡) said.
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