The Videoland cable television network was fined NT$600,000 yesterday after violating the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) by showing images of “brutal killings” on its movie channel.
In a Taipei news conference, National Communications Commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that the channel aired a Hong Kong film named Claypot Curry Killers on April 25 in which the characters used hammers and other tools and weapons to kill people.
“The film was broadcast between 9pm and 11:05pm. Only programs classified as ‘parental guidance’ [PG] are allowed to be shown during those hours,” Yu said. “However, the film contains visual content that had gone beyond the range defined for PG programs.”
Separately, a sports channel included in Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand system was fined NT$300,000 after it broadcast a program about online games that included violent imagery.
The commission said that program showed violent images from an online game.
The commission said that characters in the video games were shown shooting others in the head at close range with depictions of blood splatter.
Characters were also seen stabbing people with bladed weapons, the commission said.
According to the commission, the program did not specify its classification and was aired between 10am and 4pm, when programs classified as “protected” are allowed.
Formosa TV was fined a total of NT$150,000 for improper product placement in its TV series Dowries (嫁妝).
According to the commission, the episodes aired on March 9 and April 15 this year had overtly and extensively advertised medical equipment as well as a WiFi router produced by a Taiwanese telecom carrier.
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