First Ask How Much Popular Trust the Cabinet Gets!

 First Ask How Much Popular Trust the Cabinet Gets!

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

December 18, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

Premier Lai Ching-te accepted a recommendation by Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas, instructing the National Communications Commission (NCC) to conduct a survey on trust in media outlets, and has thus been questioned that this is to conduct an evaluation of and intervention in the media, an inappropriate approach. In fact, this move not only harms freedom of the press, but also reflects the government’s evasion of responsibility.

It is not entirely impermissible for the government to conduct a survey on the media, but it should never be executed by the executive branch of the government, and should be made by a private sector organization with credibility. On top of that, surveys are used primarily by the government for its reference in adjusting its policy decisions when seeking the public’s preferences toward specific government policies. The disastrous defeat of the DPP in the recent local elections occurred principally because of the Tsai government’s arbitrariness in its acts, not listening to popular opinion and various surveys. Under such circumstances, Lai does not reflect on his own slight toward surveys, with policy decisions departing from the vox populi, while in reverse fashion, he wants to use surveys as tools to give advice and directives to the media; this move, as a way of "post-electoral soul-searching" is indeed extremely ironic.

Since the Tsai government came to office, from studying and drafting the "National Security Safeguards Bill" and the bill titled "Statute on Transformational Justice," intervening in the Mandarin Daily News, the so-called Dong Chang incident to the Harvest Association incident, tendencies have been occurring without end relative to constraining freedom of speech, as well as manipulating and control of media reports while the NCC’s independent role has also been questioned. Now, under the Cabinet’s "Ad Hoc Project on Prevention and Control of Disinformation Risks,” the government is undertaking, with top urgency, a series of revisions to existing laws; these moves make people worry about stepping on the red line of democracy, including the “National Security Bill, the Social Order Maintenance Bill and the Digital Communications and Dissemination Bill” which are being proposed, we expect much more misgivings.

Before Premier Lai talks loquaciously about surveys on trust in media outlets, please first learn to respect the vox populi and surveys, especially at a time when dissatisfaction ratings by the public are at such a high level.

Attachment : none