DPP legislator Fan Yun and others proposed the "Digital News Development and Democratic Resilience Draft Act".

(Photo by reporter Chen Zhengyu)

[Reporter Chen Zhengyu/Taipei Report] The Ministry of Digital Development is about to hold the third round of media bargaining dialogue. DPP legislator Fan Yun and others proposed the "Digital News Development and Democratic Resilience Draft Act", which stipulates that digital platforms will allocate proceeds to establish a fund , to subsidize the media to produce high-quality news content, emphasizing that the news fund and the bargaining system go hand in hand, and the Legislative Yuan will hand it over to the committee for review as soon as tomorrow.

Fan Yunjin (11th) held a press conference on "Implementation of the Value of News, Establishment of Funds, and Improving Media Development", and announced that it was jointly drafted by experts, scholars, and industry representatives including Professor Liu Changde of the Department of Journalism of National Chengchi University, Director of the Journalism Office of National Taiwan University Hong Zhenling, lawyer Zhou Yuxiu, and industry representatives, and included in the "News Fund Draft Digital News Development and Democratic Resilience Act.

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Fan Yun pointed out that large multinational digital platforms, such as Google and Meta, have been citing or using news content for free for a long time, while gaining huge digital advertising revenue, it has caused a sharp decline in news media advertising revenue, and the media business environment has become increasingly difficult; the deteriorating media The environment has also affected the deteriorating working conditions of reporters. Many reporters who want to report news seriously have to submit their manuscripts quickly due to click-through rates and algorithms, and are exhausted.

Fan Yun emphasized that the sound development and continuous deepening of the news media is the cornerstone of a democratic society and politics, but in the digital age, "news has a price" has two aspects, including the "price" and "value" of news ( value), are facing severe challenges; the government must create an environment in which the news media can exercise the fourth power, ensure the space for discussion of public issues, and strengthen Taiwan’s democratic resilience.

Fan Yun said that "news has a price" has become a social consensus; relevant policy bills have been proposed internationally one after another, Taiwan should not stay out of the matter, but the timetable for the proposal of the Ministry of Digital Affairs is not yet visible.

The third round of media bargaining dialogue expected to be launched by the Ministry of Digital Affairs should not be limited to "bargaining", but should include the "fund system" in the discussion, and invite grassroots media journalists unions to participate in the dialogue; Bargaining system and fund system should also be included.

The draft specification is to promote the balanced and sound development of digital technology and the news media industry, strengthen democratic resilience, maintain the value of public discussion and democratic accountability, improve the news content production system and labor environment, and establish a bilateral reciprocal consultation mechanism to ensure profit sharing The mechanism is fair and reasonable, and the rights and interests of the public are protected; the competent authority of the "Digital News Development and Democratic Resilience Act" is the Ministry of Digital Development.

The draft stipulates that the competent authority should set up a "Digital News Development and Democracy Resilience Fund". The fund's financial resources include, announced digital platform operators, an annual allocation of 5% of the annual turnover of local advertising, and government appropriations through budgetary procedures.

As for the purpose of the fund, it covers subsidies for news media content production, digital transformation of the news media industry, and international exchange and cooperation of news media.

In addition, the key points of the draft also include ensuring that the benefits of the fund are given back to the front-line workers, and that representatives of the news media industry trade unions are included in the fund management committee; in addition, the draft clearly stipulates that when the news media industry receives profits from digital platforms, it must allocate a certain percentage The funds are earmarked for the purpose of improving the working conditions of media workers.