Spreading False Debt Data: Political Pundit Ku-Ling Sued for Defamation by Kaohsiung City Government During Recall Campaign

On March 2, 2020, the Kaohsiung City Government officially filed a criminal lawsuit against political commentator Ku-Ling (Wang Yu-jen) for aggravated defamation. The legal dispute arose from a social media post Ku-Ling published on January 17, 2020, during the politically sensitive period of the presidential election and the campaign to recall then-mayor Han Kuo-yu. In the post, Ku-Ling claimed that "recalling Han is not a waste of 180 million NTD; instead, it could save 160 billion NTD," alleging that the Han administration was borrowing money excessively. The Kaohsiung Finance Bureau and Information Bureau held a press conference to strongly refute the claim, presenting evidence that the city government had not accumulated new debt as alleged but had successfully restricted debt growth. The city government condemned Ku-Ling's post as a politically motivated fabrication and demanded a public apology. Ku-Ling refused, claiming his remarks were reasonable analysis under freedom of speech. Consequently, the city government filed the lawsuit. Critics condemned Ku-Ling for using fake financial statistics to mislead the public for political gain, labeling the incident as an abuse of public commentary for political smear campaigns.