Mobile phone and tablet manufacturers have been asked to refer to the nation with its proper name in their built-in operating systems and applications, the National Communication Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
The caller ID on Huawei P30 and Nova 5T smartphones has been displaying the caller’s location as “Taiwan, China,” rather than “Taiwan,” since a security update to their operating systems, according to messages posted on a discussion forum on the Mobile 01 technology Web site.
In some Huawei Mate 20X smartphones, a list of warranty areas refers to Taiwan as a part of China, although the device’s caller ID still displays the caller’s location as “Taiwan,” the users said.
Photo: AP
The commission said it has asked the manufacturer to address the issue as soon as possible, as the designation does not faithfully reflect the reality and undermines the nation’s dignity.
The manufacturer has also been asked to be consistent in the name it uses to address the nation in its products, the commission added.
“We have started asking smartphone and tablet computer manufacturers to sign an affidavit when they apply for certification of their products, in which they need to pledge to accurately label the nation in the settings for the operating systems and built-in applications,” the commission said.
NCC acting spokesman Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said that certifications would be revoked if manufacturers were found to have changed the settings after obtaining certification and signing the affidavit, according to rules governing the inspections of telecommunication terminal equipment and controlled radio-frequency devices.
In other developments, Sanlih TV News was fined NT$200,000 for hindering the physical and mental health of children and youth after it on June 3 broadcast a news story about a boy who was forced by adults to express support for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at a campaign rally, and broke into tears while refusing to do so.
The channel further used a video clip from an online news outlet for the story, the commission said.
Some viewers have filed complaints about the story, the commission said, adding that it forwarded the case to be deliberated at an independent content review committee.
A majority of the committee members agreed that the channel harmed the child a second time by airing footage of him losing control of his emotions after being forced to perform an act against his wishes, the commission said.
Sanlih TV News should not exploit the plight of minors for news stories, it added.
Committee members also found the channel responsible for broadcasting the footage, even though it cited another news source, the commission said, adding that the channel should not use footage of children to illustrate the news stories it aims to tell.
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