The government is planning to amend the National Security Act (NSA, 國家安全法) to stop the spread of false information on the Internet, government sources said yesterday.
The nation’s biggest online bulletin board system, Professional Technology Temple (PTT), has been infiltrated by Chinese ghostwriters and fake accounts, the sources said.
They are manipulating online discussions and cooperating with China to create false information and fake news, and to spread rumors online, they said, adding that pro-China media then distribute these rumors, resulting in social conflict.
The Ministry of the Interior, the National Police Agency and the National Immigration Agency are examining regulations to address their shortcomings, the sources said.
The agencies have not decided whether to approach the issue from the perspective of national security or social order, they said.
However, they would not propose legislation that would allow people to be detained for three days for spreading false information, as some legislators have suggested, they said.
The agencies would not propose new regulations, but rather amend laws and regulations, such as the National Security Act, the sources said, adding that amending the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) would not be a priority.
If they decide to propose changes to the National Security Act, it might involve the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and national security agencies, the sources said.
The agencies are still carefully drafting plans and nothing has been settled yet, they said.
The goal of the amendments would be to ensure that information spread online is correct, and to prevent false information from spreading, they said.
Several academics have suggested that Article 2-1 of the National Security Act, which prohibits people from providing confidential information or developing organizations for official use by a foreign country, be amended to include “online armies.”
Government agencies are assessing the feasibility of this suggestion, the sources said.
False information and fake news must be contained at the source, they said, adding that only by finding the source can the government convince the public that the information is incorrect.
The government will deploy technology to uncover the sources of false information and punish them, the sources said.
If the false information originated from China or other foreign forces who are intentionally spreading it to attack the government and engage in online psychological warfare, the government would discuss measures to handle them and ensure that there will be laws to deal with them, they added.
The Ministry of the Interior has advised Internet users to judge whether the information they receive is true before forwarding it.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
RSS