Education officials in Greater Kaohsiung urged software developers and users to exercise restraint when designing or communicating on social media, and avoid emoticons and stickers that depict sex or violence.
Greater Kaohsiung Education Bureau Director Cheng Hsin-hui (鄭新輝) said a number of parents had complained that some of the cartoon stickers that Taiwan Beer uses for online apps seem to promote drinking, which they said was inappropriate for teenagers.
Chen added that some stickers and “sticons” (a hybrid of stickers and emoticons) from the social messaging app Line are violent in nature.
Photo: Hung Ting-hung, Taipei Times
He cited as examples stickers of Brown the bear fighting Cony the rabbit, and Moon, a round-faced male character, sticking pins into a straw figure, as well as sticons of an axe and a gun and bullets, among others.
Greater Kaohsiung Social Affairs Bureau Director Chang Nei-chien (張乃千) said that children may be gradually influenced by repeated exposure to violent images and think that problems in life can be solved through violence.
“Although most of the sticons are not against the law, we hope app developers know how to exercise restraint,” he said, adding that he hoped they would design more “graphics that can touch people’s hearts.”
A woman surnamed Yang (楊) said that she has seen some of the free sticons offered by Line, “but I will not send them to friends and relatives.”
“It may be a joke for some, but it could cause misunderstanding,” she said.
“We have seen the stabbing spree on the Taipei MRT,” she said, referring to the May 21 incident in which four people were killed and 24 injured. “So whenever I see the ‘angry’ sticon of Moon sticking pins into a straw figure, it gives me the chills. [Line] should remove that one.”
A mother of a second-grader surnamed Chiu (邱) agreed, saying: “Although we know that students do not mean to promote violence, whenever I see them passing around sticons of fighting, sticking pins, or axes and guns and bullets, I give them a quick lecture and tell them to stop using them.”
“These sticons are inappropriate,” another parent surnamed Tai (戴) said. “They can lead to hatred and conflict, so they should be removed.”
Junior-high school students were divided on the issue.
“These sticons are just for fun,” a male student surnamed Chen (陳) said. “Adults should not make a big deal about it.”
A female student surnamed Lee (李) countered: “The sticons on fighting, Moon sticking pins into a straw figure, guns and axes can all be mistaken for [somebody] making a threat. I’ll never use them.”
Sun Shao-en (孫紹恩), a fortune-teller in Greater Kaohsiung, said that the sticker of Moon sticking pins into a straw figure could just be an emotional outlet for some, but advised against frequent use of the image.
“If the straw figure is drawn with the name, time and date of birth, along with specific items from the intended victim, and some arcane ritual is performed, it could lead to bad consequences,” Sun said.
Line company officials declined to comment when asked about the controversial sticons.
Additional reporting by Kan Chih-chi
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