Members of the legislature’s Transportation Committee were divided along party lines regarding the necessity of enacting a specific law addressing the issues of cyberbullying, with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in favor of the move and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opposing it.
The committee was scheduled to have National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Howard Shyr (石世豪) detail a plan on how to reduce the digital gap between urban and rural areas.
However, the focus quickly shifted to legislation on cyberbullying, as the nation was still reeling from the death of actress and model Peng Hsin-yi (彭馨逸), also known as Cindy Yang (楊又穎), who was reported to have killed herself after reading malicious comments about her on a Facebook page.
KMT Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that prosecutors could only check the IP addresses of those making slanderous remarks online if the defendants face a primary penalty of three years in prison or longer, based on current regulations.
He said that victims of cyberbullying would have no way of knowing the IP addresses of cyberbullies or other such information.
Lee also said that people who are bullied are shy and less likely to fight back, adding that they can only be helped by having a specific law.
“The freedom of speech in Taiwan has a tendency to be applicable in everything. A solid legal basis can prevent cyberbullying by showing people that there are consequences for their deeds,” he said.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that the request for a specific law to tackle cyberbullying is a “slap in the face” for the NCC, because it shows that the commission has done nothing to curb cyberbullying and simply lets victims deal with problems themselves.
Shyr said that there should not be any law suppressing freedom of speech, particularly online.
“The nation has laws to regulate these comments,” Shyr said. “However, the point is whether the laws can be effectively enforced. We should not overreact to a single event by increasing the control on the Internet.”
DPP Legislators Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) and Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) also opposed new legislation.
Lee said that the government should not intervene in cyberspace and limit speech freedom online.
Lee said that the commission should make sure Internet service providers can be self-disciplined and improve the counseling of the Institute of Watch Internet Network (iWIN), which accepts complaints over online comments on behalf of the government.
Yeh said legislating against cyberbulling is like saying that someone should stop eating because of his fear of being choked by food, adding that the government can still hold cyberbullies accountable through their IP addresses.
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