數位時代下社群平台對新聞自由的挑戰

憲法對新聞自由的保障與相關學說理論發展，讓新聞媒體享有第四權的特殊地位，成為民主社會中人民重要的資訊來源與問責機構。隨著數位科技的發展與社群平台的興起，新聞生態環境產生了劇烈的變化，不僅動搖了新聞媒體的守門人角色，同時也影響了新聞媒體的廣告獲利。新聞媒體與社群平台之間有著複雜的互動關係，前者除了要積極數位轉型，適應新的媒體環境，同時也正面對後者所帶來新興的言論威脅。現在對新聞自由的主要威脅不再來自政府的直接審查，而是社群平台發展下新一代的言論控制。新聞媒體在數位時代下面臨嚴峻的存續危機，其監督功能因此受到影響，使得民主社會的脆弱性也隨之提高。此時政府得否積極的介入管制，維持新聞媒體的存續，讓其得以持續發揮第四權的功能，便成為健全民主發展的當務之急。本文以美國法上之相關判決及學說理論，分析數位時代下新聞自由所面臨的挑戰，並討論當代政府可採行的合憲管制手段。最後，以澳洲的新聞媒體與數位平台強制議價法作為探討對象，分析以強制議價作為新聞媒體存續保障之立法爭議，提供我國作為未來管制的參考。

關鍵字

新聞自由；社群平台；新聞媒體與數位平台強制性議價法；強制議價；新聞生態系統

並列摘要

The guarantees of constitutional rights allow news media to become the Fourth Estate and become an important source to information and accountability institutions in a democratic country. The development of digital technology and social media platforms greatly changes the global information ecosystem. The role of the news media as a gatekeeper and their ability to get advertising revenue is also affected by social media platforms. The relationship between news media and social media platforms is complex. The feedom of the press is no longer threatened by the direct censorship of the government, but by the new generation of speech control such as the troll armies. In the digital age, because of the threats posed by social media platforms, news media have to change the way to create content and their business model . Democratic societies are therefore more vulnerable. So the government should actively intervene to maintain the development of the news media to protect the democratic society. This Article will analyze American judgments and related research papers, find the challenges to freedom of the press in the digital age, and try to find constitutional regulatory approaches. Finally, this Article takes the Australia’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code as an example to discuss the approaches that the government intervenes in competition to promote news media revenue, as recommendations for future legislation.