The Nantou District Court last week dismissed charges against National Taipei University student You Min-che (游旻哲), who helped spread fake news about China’s consulate in Osaka, Japan, sending a shuttle bus to pick up Taiwanese stranded at Kansai International Airport after an earthquake.
Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), then-director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, wrote in his suicide note that he had been in agony over the fake news. Japanese netizens sneered upon learning of the verdict, with some questioning whether it set an example for society.
As the government gears up for its campaign to combat fake news, what does the court’s decision to drop charges of breaching the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) — the lightest charge that could be filed for such a misdeed — against a 22-year-old rumormonger tell society? Does it mean that future dissemination of fake news should also go unpunished?
The court’s premise for dismissing the charges against You — that his spreading of disinformation on Professional Technology Temple, the nation’s largest online academic bulletin board system, did not cause public fear — was a clear misinterpretation of the act, as it showed that the presiding judge had taken the “wolf” in “crying wolf” literally, which might account for the out-of-touch ruling that underestimated the influence of the Internet in the digital age.
Another aspect of the incident that has not been given due attention is that You was not the creator of the fake news. The report was first published by a number of Chinese outlets, including state-run Xinhua news agency and Shanghai-based news outlet Guancha Syndicate. Xinhua cited the Communist Youth League of China’s WeChat account as the source.
You posted his fabrication in response to a thread that contained a link to a Taiwanese news outlet report that had picked up on the fake news from China. His account even contained portions that contradicted the original version, so how could he be solely responsible for the disinformation? His actions should undoubtedly be condemned and he has likely learned his lesson after netizens, indignant over the court’s ruling, launched a search and exposed his identity.
It is time for people to turn their attention to the more pressing matter: tackling fake news that is spread to Taiwan from China — an issue that is conspicuously missing from amendments unveiled by the Executive Yuan to counter fake news.
To keep fake news at bay, a central government platform must be created to effectively respond to the threat and show the government’s resolve, as the high cost for screening disinformation, which some officials have mentioned, is no excuse for inaction.
If the government has the money for a proposed transformation of the Aviation Safety Council into a national transportation safety council that would more than triple its staff, as well as a 36-member unit at the Taiwan Railways Administration to probe less severe issues — which were questionable policies in the first place, due to their apparently greater-than-necessary personnel requirements — there must be ways for it to come up with the budget to fund a task force charged with collecting and screening disinformation pumped out by China’s content farms.
Meanwhile, the government should continue its efforts to raise public awareness about fake news manufactured by China or run by China-sponsored Taiwanese media outlets. The Cabinet took a step in the right direction when Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) recorded a video in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) to explain legislative efforts to combat fake news, a move that was clearly aimed to appeal to the grassroots.
Only when society has developed a strong enough awareness about the threats posed by fake news, like it has for controlled substances and drunk driving, can it develop the intelligence necessary to identify fake news and be less influenced by disinformation.
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