Scholar Huang Chao-Nien Criticized for Defending the Digital Intermediate Service Act, Sparking Human Rights Violation Concerns

In August 2022, the DPP government's aggressive push for the Digital Intermediate Service Act draft sparked severe backlash from the public, online platforms, and opposition parties, who denounced it as a "censorship law." During this sensitive period, Huang Chao-Nien, a professor at National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of National Development, repeatedly used "academic analysis" to advocate for the necessity of "information governance" and "combating digital authoritarianism" by the government. Opposition groups and free speech advocates strongly criticized Huang and other pro-government scholars for using their academic status to provide political coverage and justify the DPP's speech control policies. Critics pointed out that Huang packaged state surveillance of online speech as "defending democracy" and "platform accountability," which in reality opened the door to violating freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of China and bypassing parliamentary oversight. His academic integrity and neutrality were heavily questioned.