The government is planning to establish an Internet site to refute online rumors in light of alleged Internet manipulation of government information, sources said yesterday.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) recently posted information on its Web site promoting a government policy to reduce burning incense and joss paper at temples, but it was described online as a ban on burning incense and joss paper, which prompted irate templegoers to march in Taipei today.
While the groups agreed to change the event from a protest to a parade following negotiations with the government, President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has seen the potential damage of online rumors, the sources said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Each ministry has its own task force to monitor rumors and fake news, Minister Without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said.
The task forces determine which information is controversial and submit the information for verification with the relevant agency, which issues a press release for clarification if the news is erroneous, Wu said.
As announcements from different agencies are shared on different Internet forums, the Executive Yuan plans establish a single site before the end of this year where the announcements would be posted, the sources said.
The Executive Yuan would also raise the issue with Line messaging app, as well as Facebook and Twitter, in the hope of establishing an alert system notifying the public to verify information, they said.
A high-ranking government official speaking on condition of anonymity said dissemination of fake news, such as the claim that has been banned or a claim that retired teachers would have to file a report before leaving the nation or have their pension cut off, are organized by an entity.
Rumors spread on Line, for example, would require commercial activity or an organized effort to be spread to such an extent, the official said.
Other nations, such as the US, Germany and the UK, treat fake news as a national security threat and Taiwan should do so as well, especially as China has ulterior motives, sources said.
People opposed to pension reform following Tsai and obtaining her itinerary on Line, sometimes before her plans had been announced, is a breach of national security, the sources said.
The Presidential Office has canceled multiple public events due to concerns over leaked information, and the office has become more careful about posting Tsai’s itinerary online, the sources said.
However, another unnamed government official said press freedom should also be taken into consideration in the government’s reaction to fake news.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant