A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, with the support of a civic group, is moving to revise a series of laws to ban sensational animated news on television, Web sites and in other media.
The legislature’s Social Welfare Committee and the Environment and Health Committee began debating a proposal on Wednesday to ban “any detailed description of tools and methods used to commit crimes or suicide.”
In a response to a recent controversy over animated graphic news published by the Apple Daily newspaper, the proposal will also prohibit “graphic animated news that includes bloody or obscene images of violence, sex or horror.”
To institute the ban, the legislators propose revising three acts that govern radio, television and satellite broadcasts and the welfare of children and teenagers.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who sponsored the proposal along with KMT legislators Alex Fai (費鴻泰) and Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄), said that the use of graphic images to reconstruct crime reports reopened the wounds of the victims and their families.
Hung said that setting up a news rating system would not solve the problem.
The Apple Daily’s News-in-Motion Web feature is not news at all, she said.
“In order to prevent other media from following the lead of the Apple Daily, an absolute ban should be imposed,” Hung said.
A similar proposal was submitted by the Children Welfare League, through Shyu, Hung and fellow KMT lawmakers Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) and Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池).
The Apple Daily’s News-in-Motion clips are published on its Web site and are also accessible by mobile phone. After it was fined twice in two days — NT$500,000 each time — the newspaper on Saturday issued an apology and restricted access to the animated clips.
After the National Communications Commission (NCC) said it could do nothing about the issue, the Taipei City Government imposed the fines on the grounds that there were no restrictions preventing minors from viewing them.
Amid the controversy, Apple Daily owner Next Media’s plans to set up a TV company suffered a setback, when the NCC on Wednesday decided to extend its review of the group’s applications for three television licenses.
NCC spokesman Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the group’s “operations proposal,” which is part of the application to explain how the TV programs will be presented, was too vague.
“We haven’t turned down the applications, but the Apple Daily should allay public concerns by stating in the application how it plans to broadcast its programs,” Chen said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
Former minister of transportation and communications Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), who was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking bribes from contractors, has died aged 69, sources said today. The sources said Kuo was rushed to Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital in Taipei for emergency treatment due to a life-threatening aortic dissection on Sunday and was pronounced dead at about 11am today. The hospital declined to disclose any information about Kuo's disease, citing patient privacy. Kuo was transport minister between January and August 2006, during which time she oversaw the official opening of the 12.94km Hsuehshan Tunnel, the longest in Taiwan. In April
RSS