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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Disaster rumors need stiff penalty: Tsai
The National Communications Commission emblem is pictured at its office in Taipei on Sep. 27, 2017. Photo: Tan Wei-cheng, Taipei Times
CHANGES NEEDED: The government must swiftly clarify misinformation and push for amendments to punish those who spread false news about disasters, the president said
By Su Meng-chuan, Liu Li-jen and Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The government should amend the law to increase penalties for spreading false information about disasters, President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） told a meeting of the Medical Professionals Alliance in Taichung yesterday.
The results of the legislative by-elections on Saturday showed that misinformation has become a problem, Tsai said.
During campaigning, the public focused on a farmer’s false claim that the price of pomeloes last year was so low that 2 million catties （1,200 tonnes） were dumped into the Zengwen Reservoir （曾文水庫）.
Besides acting swiftly to clarify misinformation, the government needs to push for amendments to implement harsher penalties to curtail false information about disasters, Tsai added.
Separately yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） singled out the National Communications Commission （NCC） for allowing misinformation to go unchecked.
The commission has done nothing to curb the spread of false information, Su said, calling the commission a “so-called independent agency produced by past legislation” over which no authority has control.
Su said he believes that the commission should evaluate itself and implement improvements.
Responding to criticism that the commission is slow to act, NCC spokesperson Wong Po-tsung （翁柏宗） said the procedure for handling complaints takes a month, adding that the commission would reassess the process and try to shorten it.
In related news, an NCC survey commissioned last year showed that 71.8 percent of respondents believed that print newspapers maintain the highest level of impartiality, followed by TV news （70.6 percent）, radio news （62.3 percent）, Web portals or apps （57.8 percent） and Web sites or apps operated by broadcasting stations （57.7 percent）.
However, the survey showed that 22.2 percent of respondents considered TV news biased, followed by Web portals or apps （20.9 percent）, Web sites or apps operated by broadcasting stations （17.7 percent）, print newspapers （17.0 percent） and radio news （15.3 percent）.
The survey, conducted from May 6 to July 13 last year, polled 1,078 Taiwanese older than 16.
Additional reporting by Chen Wen-chan
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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