Freedom, privacy rights at center of `Scoop' debate

As the government confiscated the printing plates of Scoop Weekly on Wednesday, commentators remained divided about how to strike the proper balance between press freedom and individual privacy.

On Tuesday, the government seized unsold copies of the latest edition of Scoop Weekly after the first batch hit bookstores. The magazine included a sensational free VCD and sold out within hours the day before.

The VCD at the center of the furor purports to show Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), the 36-year-old former director of Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau, having intercourse with a married man in her bedroom. Chu failed in her bid in the Dec. 1 legislative elections to win a seat representing the New Party in Taichung.

The Constitution grants both freedom of "speech, teaching, writing and publication," and "freedom of privacy and correspondence." The current controversy strikes at the core of the often conflicting relationship between the two.

In justifying their conduct, however, the government and prosecutors have cited, on the one hand, laws qualifying the constitutional right to freedom of expression, and, on the other, laws upholding the constitutional right to privacy.

The Government Information Office (GIO) defended its seizure of the magazine Tuesday on the grounds that the Broadcasting and Television Law stipulates that any VCD, DVD or videotape must be viewed by the GIO before it can be released for the purposes of "management and consultation over broadcasting."

The law empowers the government to ban the broadcasting of materials "inimical to the well-being of children and to good conduct."

Taipei prosecutors also say that distribution of the VCD violates Articles 235 and 315 of the Criminal Code, which respectively outlaw the distribution of "indecent" materials and the infringement of personal privacy.

The distribution of indecent materials is punishable by a two-year prison term and authorities are entitled to confiscate the materials.

The taping of private dialogue and conduct without the consent of the individual concerned amounts to commissioning an Article 315 offense. Circulating such material is punishable by a five-year prison term or a NT$50,000 fine.

Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), lawyer and head of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, said that based on his experience with cases involving pornographic VCDs or tapes, Scoop Weekly would lose any case in which it was accused of distributing indecent materials.

He added, "Whether the government can use its executive power to interfere with the freedom of the press is questionable."

One commentator said the government did not have grounds to seize copies of the magazine.

"The government doesn't have the power to ban the VCD under the Broadcasting and Television Law, since that law applies only to VCDs, DVDs, and CDs that are publicly broadcast," said Shih Shih-hao (石世豪), a professor in the Department of Journalism at National Chengchi University.

"I don't think the GIO should get involved, especially since police and prosecutors are looking into the matter," he said.

Scoop Weekly's publisher and owner have asserted that the public's right to know justifies the release of the VCD. Chu is a public figure and the man with whom she is alleged to have had sex is married. Adultery is a criminal offense in Taiwan, punishable by up to one year in prison for both the adulterer and his or her unmarried partner.