Overturning a previous decision, YouTube decided on Thursday to remove a series of music videos degrading Taiwanese women after angry reports from the Taiwanese public and media.
Over the past months, a YouTube user who dubbed himself "Handsome Hong Kong Guy" (香港帥哥) had uploaded a series of music videos titled "Dirty Ditty" (粗口歌) on the YouTube Web site.
The music videos of several well-known Taiwanese folk songs included lyrics that had been changed to make derogatory comments about Taiwanese women.
Despite complaints from other users, YouTube had kept the music videos on its site over the past month, citing freedom of speech.
On Thursday, YouTube said that while it does not comment on individual videos, unsuitable content is reviewed based on reports from the Web community and removed if found to violate YouTube's terms of use.
Although YouTube declined to respond when asked whether the videos in question had been removed, users found that while searches for "Handsome Hong Kong Guy" or "Dirty Ditty" displayed results, but further attempts to access the contents loaded messages indicating that the videos have been removed due to violations of the site's terms of use.
YouTube is an internationally renowned video sharing Web site with millions of uploads daily.
In April of this year, videos ridiculing the king of Thailand caused public outrage and the Thai government officially requested the removal of the offensive videos. YouTube acquiesced.
In July of this year, YouTube also removed videos featuring someone singing songs degrading to Korean women in a Seoul metro station after complaints from Korean users.
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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