Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, censorship involves the suppression of speech or public communication and raises issues of

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, which is protected by Article 11 of the

Constitution of the Republic of China The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanking, and adopted on 25 De ...

. Some laws restricting freedom of speech still exist, including defamation, breach of privacy, infringement of copyright, pornography, incitement to commit crimes, sale of prohibited items and distribution of offensive content. During the

martial law in Taiwan Martial law in Taiwan () refers to the periods in the history of Taiwan after World War II, during control by the Republic of China Armed Forces of the Kuomintang-led regime. The term is specifically used to refer to the over 38-year-long c ...

from 1947 to 1987, the government exercised strict media control, initially carried out by the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

which governed

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

to retreating to Taiwan in 1949. Under martial law, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT)-ruled government engaged in censorship to prevent criticism of it, as part of its opposition to certain cultural products, and as a feature of

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

campaigns against the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

. Media control was greatly relaxed when the state moved away from authoritarianism in 1987. While most international organisations report that Taiwan respects freedom of speech, governmental measures at combating fake news often sparked controversy about the measurement constraint on freedom of expression, particularly among the

Chinese Nationalist Party The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the sole ruling party of the country during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan ruled under ...

(KMT) and their supporters.

History

Japanese rule

In 1936 the Japanese authorities prohibited Lee Shih-chiao from exhibiting his painting ''Reclining Nude'' (橫臥裸婦) at the Taiyang Art Exhibition based on indecency. This instigated widespread protest from the Taiwanese art community as comparable works by western artists were held by Japanese and Taiwanese museums.

Martial law

After Taiwan was handed over the

-led Republic of China (ROC) from Japan in 1945 and the start of the 38-year martial law period, the ROC, as an authoritarian state, exercised strict control of the media. Parties other than the Kuomintang, such as the Chinese Youth Party and China Democratic Socialist Party, were banned and media advocating either democracy or Taiwan independence was banned. Taiwanese-language media was also banned, and children who spoke Taiwanese in school were physically punished. The revision of Criminal Acts against seditious speech in 1992 ended the persecution of political opponents.

Li Ao Li Ao (, also spelled Lee Ao; 25 April 1935 – 18 March 2018) was a Taiwanese writer, politician and television personality. Li rose to prominence in the early 1960s through his articles in ''Wenxing'' (1957–1988), an intellectual Taiwanes ...

, a famous political activist in Taiwan, nationalist, and intellectual, had over 96 books banned from sale. Writer

Bo Yang Bo Yang ( zh , t = 柏楊 , s = 柏杨 , p = Bó Yáng ; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese people, Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a ...

was jailed for eight years for his translation of the cartoon

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Chiang Kai-shek. Musician Wen Hsia became known as the "king of banned songs" due to having more than 100 songs banned by the KMT authorities. During the martial law period, the KMT, the only paper to feature occasional moderate criticisms of the government (along with some of the best news reporting) was the '' Independence Evening Post''. The publication was the first to send journalists to China four months after the lifting of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, despite government opposition. In 7 April, 1989, pro-democracy activist Cheng Nan-jung set himself on fire in support of freedom of speech. Since the death of Cheng, Taiwan abolished the Publication Law and amended Cable Television Law in 1999.

Current status

According to the United States State Department, the Taiwanese constitution provides for

and press, and the authorities generally respect these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to protect freedom of speech and press.

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

reported that Taiwan "generally respects the principles of media freedom". Brandon Tensley identified three primary threats to press freedom in Taiwan in 2019: sensationalist journalism, Chinese propaganda, and heavy-handed government responses to the first two threats.

Internet access

According to

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, technical censorship "is not routine in Taiwan". The U.S. Department of State stated in a 2012 report, "There are no official restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the authorities monitor

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

or Internet

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

without judicial oversight." In 2012, the Government Information Office, the main organisation formerly tasked with censoring media, was disbanded. Since 2016, the date of Cheng's death has been commemorated as Freedom of Speech Day in Taiwan. Taiwanese people generally do not

self-censor Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is co ...

. However, several factors influence it. According to Freedom House, defamation laws and

online harassment Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using Electronic communication network, electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and Adolescence, a ...

are major factors in self-censorship. In 2023, "" (Cheng Tsai-wei), a million-subscriber YouTuber in Taiwan, said that criticising the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

might lead to his facing personal attacks from DPP supporters. He therefore felt unsafe commenting local politics. agreed with Cheap. In 2024, iWIN ordered some websites to remove illustrations sexually depicting fictional children, which triggered concerns of censorship in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government later issued a statement that only sexual images of children, pornographic drawings depicting real-life subjects, and realistic pornographic drawings generated by AI, are regulated. In 2024, Taiwan's national government considered blocking

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

following revelations about "Creative Private Room" (創意私房), a

child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...

group on the platform. However, the government backed down after criticisms about censorship.

National Tsing Hua University National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) is a public research university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, president Mei Yiqi and other academics relocated with the retreating Nationalist government to ...

briefly blocked

in May 2024. According to documents obtained by bloggers, the university had acted under the direction of the local government in

Hsinchu City Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a Provincial city (Taiwan), city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inha ...

Chinese online services

Operating status and restrictions on Chinese online services are usually the concerns of censorship in Taiwan. In August 2020, the Ministry of Economic Affairs banned Taiwanese agents or distributors from offering mainland Chinese internet audiovisual services such as

iQIYI iQIYI (, pronounced in English as ), formerly Qiyi (), is a Chinese subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Baidu. Headquartered in Beijing, iQIYI primarily produces and distributes films and television series. i ...

and

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...

WeTV. Additionally, platforms like

Taobao Taobao is a Chinese online shopping platform. It is headquartered in Hangzhou and is owned by Alibaba. According to Alexa rank, it was the eighth most-visited website globally in 2021. Taobao.com was registered on April 21, 2003 by Alibaba Cl ...

Taiwan were officially shut down. After the 2019 Double 11 shopping festival, the Taobao Taiwan app saw its download numbers exceed 2 million. In December 2022, the Ministry of Digital Affairs declared that the mobile app

Douyin TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

posed a threat to national cybersecurity. As a result, both the central government and local governments prohibited the downloading, installation, and use of Douyin or TikTok apps on government-issued smartphones, tablets, and computers. In February 2025, Ministry of Digital Affairs announced it would block DeepSeek in government, citing security concerns.

Political parties

During the martial law period, the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) forbade people from establishing political parties that promote

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

and

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. The law was abolished in 2011. In 2008, the Taiwan Communist Party became the 141st registered political party in Taiwan. Under

Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China The Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China are the revisions and amendments to the original constitution of the Republic of China to "meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification", taking into acco ...

(中華民國憲法增修條文), the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the Republic of China.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It functions as the Constitutional Cour ...

has the right to order "unconstitutional political parties" to dissolve if it endangers "the existence of the Republic of China or the nation's free and democratic constitutional order". Currently, the Constitutional Court takes the responsibility for that. On 6 November 2024, the Ministry of the Interior filed a lawsuit seeking to ban the Chinese Unification Promotion Party for "posing a threat to democracy."

Local media

The authority for censorship in Taiwan since 2006 is the National Communications Commission (NCC). On 26 June 2006, news reports said that a review by the Council of Grand Justices of the ROC found that part of the National Communications Commission Organization Act (e.g. Article 4) is unconstitutional, and that after 31 December 2008 the law provision is invalid. In 2016, when the Taiwanese government proposed amendments to the Copyright Act that sparked concerns about online freedom of speech and expression. The proposed changes aimed to combat online piracy but were criticised for potentially infringing on individuals’ rights to freedom of speech. On December 12, 2020, CTi News was forced to cease broadcasting after the NCC decided not to renew its license, marking one of the rare instances of a television news station being taken off the air in Taiwan since the establishment of the NCC in 2006. CTi Television filed a lawsuit regarding this decision, and on 10 May 2023, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled in favour of CTi Television in the first-instance verdict, annulled the NCC's decision not to renew the station's licence and remanded the case for further review.

issued a statement, saying the refusal did not go against press freedom. In November 2024, under government pressure, Public Television Service modified a news report regarding

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's election as President of the United States. The alteration followed a TaiwanPlus journalist Louise Watt's reference to Trump as a "convicted felon". Reporters Without Borders considered this as a factually accurate description, given his May 2024 criminal conviction by a US court for falsifying business records. Reporters Without Borders called on the Taiwanese government to commit to refraining from similar interference in news coverage in the future.

Academia

On 5 January 2018, the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

elected its 11th president, Kuan Chung-ming, who won with the highest number of votes. The Ministry of Education under the DPP refused to issue the appointment letter, citing procedural issues, which led to criticism from the academia. After two education ministers, namely Pan Wen-chung and Wu Maw-kuen, had stepped down due to this refusal, on 24 December 2018, Minister of Education Yeh Jiunn-rong stated that he grudgingly agreed to appoint Kuan Chung-ming as NTU's president, with the appointment to take effect on 8 January 2019. Yeh faced accusations of handling the matter hastily, and subsequently resigned in response. During a lecture on 10 April 2020, Chao Ming-wei, an associate professor at

Chung Yuan Christian University Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU; ) is a private university in Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The university was established as Chung Yuan Christian College of Science and Engineering in 1955 by a group of Taiwanese and American Ch ...

, referred to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

as "Wuhan pneumonia," which prompted a mainland Chinese student to file a complaint accusing him of discrimination. In response, Chao apologised during the lecture, emphasising that, "as a professor of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

," he did not engage in discriminatory behaviour. On 14 April, he was called to a meeting with the university’s dean and associate dean of academic affairs, who criticised his apology for inappropriately highlighting his identity as a "professor of the Republic of China." They warned that failure to amend his remarks could result in the case being referred to the university's ethics committee. Under these circumstances, Chao felt compelled to issue a second apology.

Relationship with China

The stance and measurement over the influence from the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

is an active area of controversy.

and

both address disinformation from China, and self-censorship in China-related issues. According to a 2019 report by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), Taiwan was one of the democracies most targeted by false information from foreign governments. Brandon Tensley described Chinese propaganda influence as a "threat" to press freedom in Taiwan. In 2017, Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese activist, was arrested by the Chinese government and sentenced to five years imprisonment for "subverting state power". According to Freedom House, Lee's social media feeds were used as evidence of his crime. In 2019, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' correspondent Kathrin Hille reported that the Chinese government intervened in the ''

China Times The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan and one of the most widely circulated newspapers in Taiwan. Founded in 1950, the China Times Group was acquired by food and media conglomerate Want Want, whi ...

'', a pro-PRC media run by Taiwanese conglomerate Want Want group, that has deep business ties with China. The ''China Times'' filed a libel suit against Kathrin Hille after the report, which was described as "abusive" by Reporters Without Borders. On the other hand, whether Chinese media should regulate or not is also controversial. For example, satellite channels perceived to adopt a pro-PRC or pro-unification editorial stance, such as Phoenix TV, were refused landing rights in Taiwan by the DPP-controlled government. Similarly, correspondent offices representing the PRC government-controlled

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

and the ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

'' were closed by the DPP-controlled government. These policies were reversed after the election of the

in 2008. In 2011, however, the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations p ...

(MAC) rejected the application from the

to set up an office in

Taipei 101 The Taipei 101 (; stylized in all caps), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a 508 m (1,667 ft), 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by Taipei Financial Center Corporation. It was Council on Tall Buildings ...

, citing its potential political intention. By June 2024, seven Chinese media organisations had a total of ten journalists stationed in Taiwan. These included two journalists from Xinhua News Agency, three from China Central Television, and one journalist each from ''People's Daily'', China National Radio, China News Service, Xiamen TV, and Hunan TV. In June 2024, local media reported that a journalist from

in Taiwan has participated in the production of local television programmes. National Security Bureau Director Tsai Ming-yen confirmed that the bureau had received intelligence on the matter but emphasised that the bureau did not possess judicial investigative powers. The NCC stated it had not received any official report of the incident, after a DPP legislator claimed to have reported the issue two months earlier. Subsequently, the MAC announced the results of its investigation. Both the Chinese journalist and the Taiwanese television station involved denied the allegations and the media outlet that originally reported the claim was found to lack a valid source of information. The MAC stated that while the reporting on this issue did not breach journalistic professionalism, it declined to disclose the source of the information or the specific media outlet referenced in its findings. In December 2024, the MAC announced plans to prohibit the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation from inviting mainland Chinese students to Taiwan. The announcement came after an interview in which a Chinese student referred to Taiwan as "China Taipei" instead of "

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

", sparking criticism from the ruling DPP. In response,

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, t=馬英九; pinyin: ''Mǎ Yīngjiǔ''; ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT ...

urged the MAC to avoid adopting what he described as a "martial law mentality" that could hinder cross-strait exchanges.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Censorship In The Republic Of China