RSF’s Director General Thibaut Bruttin meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te
Thibaut Bruttin, Director General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te today, recommending measures to fortify Taiwan’s democracy against disinformation.
On 16 October 2024, during a visit to Taipei, Thibaut Bruttin met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, Secretary-General of the National Security Council Joseph Wu and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, François Wu. Bruttin was accompanied by Wu’er Kaixi, a key figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement and a member of RSF’s Emeritus Board, and three representatives from RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau in Taipei: Director Cédric Alviani, Advocacy Manager Aleksandra Bielakowska, and Development and Projects Manager Shataakshi Verma.
Bruttin praised Taiwan’s progress in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index; as the country ascended from 35th to 27th place out of 180 countries between 2023 and 2024. However, he stressed the need for a comprehensive reform of Taiwan’s media laws. Bruttin presented RSF’s innovative solutions for improving press freedom, including the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), the first ISO-certified media quality standard; the Paris Charter on Artificial Intelligence and Journalism; and the Propaganda Monitor, a project aimed at combating propaganda and disinformation worldwide.
“We are convinced that Taiwan, as a regional leader in press freedom and the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world, has everything to gain from reforming its media regulations so that they are in line with international best practices. It is at this price that Taiwanese media will regain public trust, a necessity not only to combat disinformation, but also to guarantee their own long-term survival in the face of the platforms’ hegemony.
Bruttin’s visit to Taiwan coincided with RSF’s first-ever Asia-Pacific Correspondents Seminar, an internal meeting between RSF’s regional correspondents, and celebrations for the seventh anniversary of RSF’s Taipei Bureau. Over 200 thought leaders attended a reception to mark the occasion. In 2017, RSF’s previous Director General Christophe Deloire was also received by then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Taiwan, a liberal democracy and a model for press freedom in the region, has faced increasing media interference from the People’s Republic of China, which aggressively asserts sovereignty over the island. Due to Taiwan’s highly polarised and sensationalist media environment, only three out of ten Taiwanese say they trust the media — a figure among the lowest in democratic countries.
Read RSF’s editorial published on 8 October 2024 in three Taiwanese outlets: Taipei Times (in English), Commonwealth Magazine and Liberty Times (in Mandarin).
