At an Internet culture workshop attended by more than 100 government leaders yesterday, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said that the administration has yet to connect effectively with Internet-based communities to bring its policies closer to the public.
The seminar aimed to teach officials about online cultures and trends.
Having served as Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) Internet campaign advisers last year, workshop instructors Ben Jai (翟本喬), Tai Chi-chuan (戴季全) and Wang Ching-chiang (王景強) were lauded by Mao as “more than godlike figures” online.
Photo: CNA, provided by the Executive Yuan
To respond to growing online communities, Mao said the government must make its data publicly available and develop relationships with digital communities to benefit from netizens’ experiences.
In response to an instructor’s suggestion that the government hire additional younger officials who are familiar with cyberculture, Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政) said that he would look into a way to relax regulations for the employment of key officials.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Jonathan Chen (陳純敬) said the workshop was very effective at offering insight into cybercultures and a new way to advance policymaking and execution.
Photo: CNA, provided by the Executive Yuan
However, netizens said that holding a workshop that accentuated the importance of Internet campaigns showed that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) misinterpreted its landslide failure in the nine-in-one elections last year.
The government has failed in its people and policies, they said.
“What the Internet has brought us is the replacement of the government’s unilateral indoctrination with a multidirectional, instantaneous communication among netizens” a netizen under the pseudonym “inlanyu” wrote.
One of the KMT’s misconceptions is that youth support for the Democratic Progressive Party is due to naivety, said Chou Wei-hang (周偉航), a Fu Jen Catholic University assistant professor known online as Ninjia Text (人渣文本).
However, it is very difficult to win over younger generations due to their information literacy, and if the KMT would like to attract them, it must avoid mudslinging opponents with lies that netizens can easily disprove, he added.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS