A YouTube content creator who made a parody video about crime in the city could face charges, as the video might have breached the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), the Taichung Police Department said on Saturday last week.
Technological Crime Investigative Task Force second-in-command Chao Jui-sheng (趙瑞昇) said that the video by a man surnamed Chen (陳), 26, caused a public disturbance, because some people thought that it captured real events.
The video, shot with a mobile device, showed a fictitious road-rage incident on Provincial Highway No. 63 involving a motorcycle rider and a driver of a sedan, Chao said.
In the video, the sedan cut into the motorcyclist’s lane without signaling and the rider attempting to break a rearview mirror on the car.
The driver of the car then rolled down the window, pulled out a submachine gun and fired a burst into the air.
The video displayed the text: “When you try to break a rearview mirror, but forget you live in Taichung.”
Multiple reports were made to police about a possible shooting as a result of the video, Chao said.
The task force identified Chen by tracing the vehicles in the video, Chao said.
When interviewed by police on Friday last week, Chen told officers that the video was a parody and the firearm was a legally owned airsoft piece, Chao said.
After reviewing the incident, the department transferred the case to prosecutors with a recommended charge of disturbing the peace, he said.
Despite its absurdity, the widely viewed video caused panic among the populace, he said.
The video has been removed from YouTube, Chao added.
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