2019 Volume 94 Pages 53-71
Article 175 of Broadcasting Act （“the Act”） requires the submission of
materials by broadcasters, and the Order for Enforcement of Broadcasting Act
（“the Order”） sets out a list of materials to be submitted. But the Order
excludes the details of broadcast programs.
For that reason, the Order requires to submit an outline of deliberations of
the Broadcast Program Council, an internal council to discuss broadcast programs
（“the Council”）. The discussion in the Council relates to program contents
and the detailed minutes includes broadcast program material.
However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications （“MIC”）,
the ministry in charge of the Act, issued a circular notice requiring the submission
of detailed minutes in addition to the outline of deliberations of the Council.
The circular notice goes beyond the mandate of the Order, which excludes the
details of broadcast programs from the list of the materials to be submitted.
While broadcasters comply with the circular notice and submit the minutes
to MIC, which might lead to MIC’s intervention in broadcast programs, they do
not disclose the minutes to their audiences. This is due to the broadcasters’ lack
of understanding of the fundamental purpose of the Act, as well as their lack of
awareness regarding the protection of their freedom of broadcasting.
