Two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they suspect the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of monitoring the Internet under the guise of fighting misinformation, while actually trying to frame public discussion to its own benefit.
For example, a National Chengchi University professor, identified only by the initial of their surname, “L,” has said on Facebook that a former classmate’s mother was questioned by police after sharing an online post questioning the authenticity of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) doctoral dissertation, KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The former classmate and her mother would be willing to talk about the experience in person, he added.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
A National Taiwan University (NTU) professor, identified only by the initial of their surname, “C,” has also said that a friend was questioned by police on orders from the Investigation Bureau “for discussing public policy on the Internet,” Chen said.
Former NTU professor Dennis Peng (彭文正), Chung Chou University of Science and Technology professor Ou Chung-ching (歐崇敬) and Hwan C. Lin (林環牆), a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Belk College of Business, “discuss [Tsai’s] dissertation every day,” Chen said, asking why they had not faced similar treatment.
Chen was referring to a controversy over Tsai’s doctoral dissertation. Tsai says she has a doctorate in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, but a number of academics, including Peng, Lin and NTU professor emeritus Ho De-fen (賀德芬), have accused Tsai of having forged her diploma and questioned the legitimacy of her doctoral dissertation.
Tsai has filed a defamation lawsuit against Ho, Lin and Peng over the matter.
KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) at the news conference questioned whether police were trying to cause a “chilling effect” to make people afraid of expressing their opinions online.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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