As the annual Taipei International Book Exhibition opened yesterday, anti-censorship advocates denounced the government's decision to allow "R"-rated books at the show as an empty gesture and demanded that the policy of rating publications be discarded.
"Although the Government Information Office [GIO] permits `R'-rated books at the exhibition, the absurd rating regulation still exists, violating the public's freedom to read," said Wu Min-hsuan (吳銘軒), spokesperson of the coalition.
PHOTO: CNA
Led by a group calling themselves the Coalition Against Pseudo-Rating Regulation, a small contingent of protesters with placards demonstrated in front of the World Trade Center in Taipei, where the exhibition is being held, chanting slogans such as "Freedom to read," "Censorship kills democracy," and "Hands off my books."
The coalition, which was formed last year after the government introduced the new rating system for publications, said the system is a form of censorship which violates the freedom to literary and artistic expression.
According to Wu, the rating system intimidates publishers, authors and readers, and could have a negative effect on the annual exhibition.
"How can the exhibition reach its goal of being an international forum for literature exchange if works from former Nobel laureates such as J.M. Coetzee and Toni Morrison may be banned or restricted for containing language of a violent or sexual nature?" he said.
According to Wu, GIO Director-General Lin Chia-lung (
However, Wu said the changeable policy only reflected the GIO's unwillingness to improve the rating system.
"Since the announcement of the new rating system, there hasn't been any revision of regulations. In addition, the GIO should hold public hearings or forums to discuss the new measure with readers, instead of negotiating privately with the publishing industry," he said.
According to the Measure Governing the Rating Systems of Publications and Pre-recorded Video Programs (
Violators of the regulation face fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000. Serious offenders can be forced to suspend publication for anything from a month to a year.
After a deluge of criticism from the publishing industry, which described the rating system as "harsh" and "vaguely defined," the GIO has suspended the issuance of fines for violations until July 1. It also reversed its earlier decision that "R"-rated books would be banned from the exhibition. However, labels and seals are still required for those books.
Linda Huang (
J.J. Lai (
"It is impossible to keep teenagers away from all publications containing sex or violence. Providing more sex education would be better than banning young people from being exposed to sexual content, which may only cause more curiosity," Lai said.
Earlier this month, Must Muster Publishing, the first lesbian book publisher to take part in the exhibition, announced that it would ignore the government's policy and would not attach "R" labels or seals to their books, most of which concern lesbian issues.
The coalition urged the GIO to conduct a thorough review of the current rating system and come up with a more reasonable regulation after going through democratic discussions with the public.
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