In view of the growing popularity of social networks and with many politicians and elected officials opening accounts on such sites, the Ministry of Civil Service said that officials should keep in mind that they cannot promote any political party and that they are only allowed to use public resources for official business.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) earlier this week said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would soon set up a Facebook page to interact with netizens. Other elected officials such as Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Chiayi County Commissioner Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) have Facebook pages.
This has raised concern over whether elected officials follow instructions issued by the Ministry of Civil Service.
According to the ministry, elected officials can use Facebook, Plurk and other such sites to promote knowledge about public policy and to communicate with users.
However, citing the Civil Service Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法), the ministry said officials need to be mindful that it is inappropriate for civil servants to use Facebook, Plurk and similar sites at work, or on government computers and engage in activities that are unrelated to their work.
They are also not allowed to use the power of their position or opportunities or methods provided through their position to request that other people join social networking site or the pages of other candidates, the ministry said.
The Chiayi County Government says someone is dedicated to handling Chang’s Facebook page, adding that the page is focused on disseminating county policy and gaining an understanding of public opinion and that it avoids issues to do with party politics.
Chang said her Facebook page is used to share the creation of county policy with the public and that rightly used, such sites are a useful channel for spreading information.
Using the disaster brought by Typhoon Morakot in early August last year as an example, Chang said many people used Facebook to bring people together to assist the relief effort in Chiayi County.
During campaigning for the recent special municipality elections in Greater Kaohsiung, young campaign workers for Chen Chu helped her set up a fan page on Facebook.
Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生), director of Chen’s office, stressed that Chen herself never uploaded photographs or issued status updates, adding that Chen has said in public that she does not manage her Facebook page.
Minister of Civil Service Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) said government heads can use the Internet to get closer to the general public, but they should be careful and keep in mind the restrictions in the Civil Service Administrative Neutrality Act regarding the behavior of civil servants.
Chang said that although the act does not specifically mention elected government leaders, it does apply to all civil servants, which “of course includes elected government leaders.”
The law stipulates that public resources may not be used for non-official purposes, she added.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS