TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Students at Shih Hsin University in Taipei launched a petition against the Want Want China Times Group after accusing it of spreading fake news, reports said Saturday.

The group’s CTiTV television station is known for its pro-Chinese, pro-unification and pro-Kuomintang programs, and was recently fined by the National Communications Commission (NCC) in connection with its numerous broadcasts about Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).

Students at two of Taiwan’s most prestigious colleges, National Taiwan University and National Chengchi University, recently accused outsiders of forcing student restaurants to show CTiTV programs and went on to demand a ban on the TV station, the Central News Agency reported. College management said they would not interfere with the choice of channels.

Late on Friday, the students at Shih Hsin launched a petition titled “I’m a Shih Hsin (student), I oppose Want Want China Times.” The NCC already fined the CTiTV news service for failing in basic journalistic duties of checking sources for news sources, so the group should not continue to blacken the reputation of true journalism, the students said.

In the past, the group’s media already acquired a name for distorting news about issues as varied as the Sunflower Movement and the American Institute in Taiwan, according to the organizers of the Shih Hsin petition.

The NCC denied it had specifically criticized the professional background of CTiTV’s news management, while the Want Want China Times Group defended its reports about the mayor of Kaohsiung by saying they attracted a significant amount of viewers. The media group also said it would file an administrative appeal against the NCC action.