Prime-time newsrooms in Taipei are adding persistent on-screen tags when packages include generative video or synthetic voice-overs, implementing National Communications Commission guidance adopted under Taiwan’s Artificial Intelligence Basic Act while the Ministry of Digital Affairs keeps a sector risk framework draft at the Executive Yuan.
What broadcasters must show
The NCC’s June guidelines require continuous disclosure whenever AI-generated material airs in news programs, including third-party clips whose provenance must be cited. Voice cloning demands prior consent, and sensitive topics — court proceedings, disasters, public-health emergencies — should use non-photorealistic animation rather than synthetic footage that could be mistaken for field video.
Commission officials stress the rules are administrative guidance without standalone fines, yet existing broadcast laws still apply if AI-assisted packages distort facts or violate fairness duties. Taipei Times coverage noted commissioners hope the standards help news directors build internal review teams before automating routine tasks such as weather graphics or earnings headline voice-overs.
MODA’s parallel track
The Ministry of Digital Affairs submitted an AI risk-classification framework to the cabinet in March 2026, aiming to give regulators a shared vocabulary for high-risk deployments. MODA’s English-language policy brief says the ministry will pair taxonomy work with evaluation tools and data-sharing mechanisms, but individual sectors — including broadcasting — retain primary oversight.
News executives told InfoHandle Network they welcome taxonomy clarity yet worry about duplicated checklists if every ministry issues separate AI paperwork. Several are mapping NCC label requirements onto MODA categories now so future audits do not force another graphics redesign.
Newsroom workflow changes
Commercial broadcasters said they inserted AI review steps between the assignment desk and final playback, logging prompts and outputs for seven days. Public-service media described smaller teams experimenting with labeled explainers for typhoon track animations, a use case commissioners highlighted as appropriate if viewers can distinguish model output from satellite imagery.
With local elections years away, political editors are especially cautious about deepfake audio. The NCC’s emphasis on consent for voice synthesis has led networks to pause experimental candidate profiles that used licensed archive audio to narrate still photos.
What viewers should expect
Audiences will see corner badges or lower-thirds reading “AI-generated visuals” for the full duration of affected segments, not just at open. Networks are training anchors to verbalize the label on first reference so radio simulcasts remain compliant.
Until the cabinet clears MODA’s framework, broadcast compliance remains a self-regulatory exercise tested against existing fact-check policies — a transitional state Taiwan’s hybrid media market will live with through at least the rest of 2026.