Although law enforcement officers yesterday expressed concern about the increasing number of "self-voyeurs" on the Internet, women's rights activists looked at the issue from a different point of view.
Officers of the National Police Administration's Highway Police Bureau said that they recently received several pictures of nude women that were photographed on the highway.
The police yesterday showed pictures to the media of a naked woman, with the face and pubic area blurred, standing next to the highway. A big road sign of the Ching-shui Rest Area next to the highway is visible in the background on one of the pictures.
A police patrol car was also captured in the same picture, but the officers inside the patrol car apparently did not see the naked woman when they passed by. The highway police are now trying to trace the woman.
Officials said yesterday that they strongly suspected these pictures were the result of computer editing.
"Officers investigated the spot where the picture was taken. There should be a slight left turn in the road, but it was a slight right turn in the picture. We therefore strongly suspect that these pictures have been edited," said Kuo Kuo-ming (
Social critic Pu Ta-chung (
Josephine Ho (
"Actors and actresses also expose their bodies in front of cameras. So, why can't ordinary people do the same thing? We shouldn't just dismiss these pictures as pornography," Ho said.
The Taipei Times yesterday spoke to some college students, who agreed that "self-portrait nude pictures" was a form of self-expression. One of the students admitted to having taken nude pictures of himself.
"I did it for fun," said Joseph C, who is now a junior. "But I would not post the pictures on the Internet."
His classmate Alanis K said that it is just another way to deliver a message.
"I do not think the issue is worth a front-page story. Everybody has the right to deliver a message no matter what that is. No big deal," she said.
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