Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday promised to strike a balance between protection of human rights and freedom of speech after members of the media raised concerns about a planned change to legislation.
Wu told reporters in Kaohsiung that either the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus or the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus would propose on Tuesday that the legislature reconsider the proposed amendment to the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act (電腦處理個人資料保護法).
Legislators would then amend the articles in the proposal by exempting the media from being required to seek consent from individuals before publicizing information about them, Wu said.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
However, the proposed regulations would still apply to any publication of personal data for commercial or profitable purposes, he said.
The proposal, which passed its second reading on Tuesday, would require that media, political commentators or elected representatives seek the consent of individuals before collecting or publicizing information about them, including their name, date of birth, ID number, occupation, medical records, genetic information and details of their sex life.
Violators would face fines of up to NT$500,000 or a jail term of up to two years.
The bill was originally scheduled to be put to the third reading yesterday, but the KMT caucus decided on Thursday afternoon to postpone the third reading until the next plenary session because of criticism from media organizations that the bill would jeopardize freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The session is scheduled to take place on Friday next week and on May 4.
The party’s move was a reversal of its previous stance, as the KMT caucus had said the proposal was aimed at curbing the paparazzi and whistle-blower media culture and would strike a balance between individual privacy and press freedom.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said that he “heard” the KMT caucus decided to put off the third reading because of concerns from the Presidential Office, but KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) denied media speculation that he received a “mysterious phone call” from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday to ask the caucus to hold off on passing the bill.
“Since I got married, my wife doesn’t let me take any mysterious phone calls,” Lin said.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, the Presidential Office said Ma was adamant that press freedom should be protected, saying that freedom of the press was not only a constitutionally protected human right, but was also the bedrock of democracy. Ma expects the legislative and executive branches to work together to allay suspicion that recent legal amendments might lead to excessive restrictions on press freedom, the statement said.
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