Video interviews with people on the street about next year’s elections or online-based mock votes must follow disclosure rules on public opinion polls or face a fine of up to NT$2 million (US$61,681), the Central Election Commission said yesterday.
REQUIRED DISCLOSurE
Election surveys published between the election’s notice and 10 days before voting day are legally required to disclose information on the organizations that commissioned and conducted the poll, the period of sample taking, the survey methodology and source of funding, the commission said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
These requirements are stipulated under Article 52 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and Article 53 of the Public Officials Election And Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), it said.
Publishing, reporting, disseminating or commenting on a poll that breached the disclosure rules is punishable by a fine between NT$100,000 to NT$1 million, the commission said.
HIGHER IF BY PROXY
This fine is increased to between NT$200,000 and NT$2 million if a political party or the proxy or agent of a political party has committed the same offense, it added.
Since the intent of the disclosure rules specified in the two acts is to prevent the utilization of fake polls in manipulating the electorate, the commission broadly applies their stipulations to all forms of information that purport to depict the state of public opinion about the elections, it said.
This means that street interview videos or online-based polls fall under the purview of these laws, as the law is concerned with the content of the material and not its format, medium or platform, it said.
Members of the public, political parties, media outlets, and election candidates and their campaigns are urged to follow disclosure rules or otherwise face legal penalties, the commission said.
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