Control Yuan alleges TaiwanPlus discrimination; platform denies charge

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) The Control Yuan on Thursday alleged that TaiwanPlus, a government-funded English-language TV and streaming platform, may be discriminating against broadcasters with a Taiwanese accent, a claim the platform denied.

The Control Yuan, Taiwan's top government watchdog, said in a press release that its Education and Cultural Affairs committee recently approved an investigative report on TaiwanPlus by its members Lin Yu-jung (林郁容), Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) and Wang Mei-yu (王美玉).

In the report, the Control Yuan noted that TaiwanPlus, subsidized by the Ministry of Culture (MOC), was launched in 2021 with NT$5.8 billion (US$187.5 million) in government funding and a mission to expand Taiwan's external broadcasting ability and strengthening its international connections.

Currently, however, its audience is regionally concentrated in Asia (67.6 percent) and North America (20.6 percent), with much lower viewership numbers in Europe, Oceania and other areas, the report said.

While TaiwanPlus has grown its viewership, overall it has fallen short in its goals of promoting and expanding Taiwan's international visibility, the report said.

Internally, the Control Yuan said, TaiwanPlus' news coverage is largely guided by foreign national managers whose grasp of Taiwanese society has limits.

This has resulted in divisions with Taiwanese editors on how to select and cover stories, creating inconsistent standards of judgment with regard to both domestic and international events, the report said.

Citing risks of editorial "imbalance," the report suggested that the MOC consider establishing an editorial framework with a "Taiwanese perspective" and increased participation from local news professionals.

In another section, the report highlighted instances where TaiwanPlus' news coverage had been "out of focus," affecting the platform's credibility and image.

It was likely referring to an incident in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, in which a video journalist referred to then-candidate Donald Trump as a "convicted felon."

The video was taken down following criticism from figures including Taiwan's culture minister, which then sparked a second wave of criticism on media freedom grounds.

Discrimination risk

The Control Yuan said that although TaiwanPlus is primarily an English-language platform, it is intended to showcase Taiwan's diverse culture and distinct linguistic features.

Witnesses interviewed by the Control Yuan, however, said there had been instances where TaiwanPlus managers refused to put individuals in on-camera roles because they spoke English with a Taiwanese accent, the report said.

The report noted that TaiwanPlus currently employs newscasters who speak English with American, British, Indian and New Zealand accents.

To nevertheless exclude Taiwanese accents from its broadcasts, not only contradicts the platform's original intention of sharing "Taiwan's perspective," but also risks discriminating against Taiwanese talent, the report said.

The Control Yuan members urged the MOC to review TaiwanPlus' standards for hiring newscasters, with an eye to establishing linguistic diversity and safeguarding the rights of Taiwanese English-speaking talent.

The Control Yuan investigation touched on many of the issues raised in a June report in CommonWealth Magazine, though it is unclear if that is what prompted the probe.

TaiwanPlus response

In response to the Control Yuan report, TaiwanPlus issued a statement emphasizing that its selection of news anchors and reporters is based on their professional communication skills and ability to be understood rather than any preference for particular accents.

Rejecting allegations of discrimination, the network said several Taiwanese journalists have passed its voiceover review process, and that 70 percent of its anchors are Taiwanese.

TaiwanPlus noted that since the channel's launch, international viewers have accounted for 94 percent of its audience.

The primary sources of viewership are the United States (47 percent), the Philippines (13 percent), and India (9 percent). Compared to the previous year, total views in 2024 increased by 98.7 percent, and total viewing hours rose by 95 percent, according to the network.

The platform has now surpassed 370 million total views and 1.45 million social media followers.

According to audience ratings collected by Chunghwa Telecom's MOD service from October 2022 to October 5, 2025, the TaiwanPlus channel ranked among the top three English-language news channels in Taiwan, behind only NHK and CNN, TaiwanPlus said.