Inappropriate use of the Internet, including the viewing of violent and pornographic material, is reaching epidemic proportions among the nation's teenagers, experts said yesterday.
To combat the problem an Internet content rating system and teaching teenagers to make wise choices online are essential, and would create a more ethical cyber world for the minor, they added.
"The cyber world is as informative as it is dangerous for our teenagers," said Dr Ang Peng-hwa (汪炳華), Dean of the School of Communications at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
"As governments around the world focus mainly on the economic aspect of the Internet, it is time for governments to set up alert systems and educate both parents and kids about the Web dangers," Ang said.
In an effort to provide a better and safer cyber world for minors, the Taiwan I-Link Community Association and the School of Communications at the National Chengchi University held an international conference entitled "Digital genesis: e-trend for youth" yesterday.
Representatives from non-government organizations (NGOs), academics and government officials shared views on the issue of Internet safety for minors.
Jeong Do-byung, chief executive of Information Communication Ethics Committee (ICEC), an NGO that provides an Internet rating system service in South Korea, said that the conflict between the freedom of speech and Internet content rating makes it hard for the Korean government to promote a more ethical cyber world for the youth.
"Putting the Internet rating system into law may violate freedom of speech. So we encourage parents to download our free content rating software, which categorizes Internet content into five levels and calls on Internet service providers to label their content," Jeong said.
"More importantly, we have initiated campaigns such as `e-clean Korea,' to increase public awareness and educate people about the importance of self-regulation, which is our ultimate goal in creating an ethical cyber world," he said.
According to a survey conducted by the Taipei Youth Activity Center last year, 70 percent of teenagers in Taipei browse the Internet on a daily basis. About 70 percent of those Internet users go online to chat or make new friends on a daily basis. Over 40 percent of the teenagers play online games daily.
A report done by Pew Internet & American Life Project last year showed that 64 percent of online teens say they know more about the Internet than their parents, and 66 percent of their parents agree.
Joseph Lin (林世華), chairman of Internet Consumers Association said that while the Government Information Office established an Internet Rating System Promotion Foundation last year to provide a safe Internet environment for kids, closing the knowledge gap between parents and their children is crucial.
"Parental supervision is important in protecting children from gaining access to harmful online information. [Parents] need to know what their kids do on the Internet," Lin said.
Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), executive director of the Garden of Hope Foundation, suggested that the wise use of Internet is the ultimate goal, and is necessary for creating a healthier online world.
"In addition to educating our teenagers to have the self-discipline to not view inappropriate content and assistance from the government through relevant policy-making is essential," Chi said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS