Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest online bulletin board system, announced over the weekend that it would stop reviewing new user applications to the system, because of a problem that the system administrator referred to as a “loose registration process.”
Made late on Friday night, the announcement added that halting registrations would not affect those whose applications were under review.
Another announcement would be made when the bulletin board was once again accepting user applications, the system administrator said.
Netizens speculated about what the reasons for the move were.
Some said the suspension was intended to prevent political candidates from using the bulletin board system to spread their agendas for the nine-in-one elections in November.
Others said it had to do with Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, having committed suicide on Friday, allegedly because of harsh criticism over how the branch handled tourists stranded in Osaka following Typhoon Jebi.
Those accusing PTT articles of spreading fake news were themselves spreading fake news, PTT founder Ethan Du (杜奕瑾) said on Facebook on Saturday.
The Chinese media were the first to report that Beijing sent 15 tour buses to Kansai International Airport, he said, adding that the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Sanlih TV News picked up the story of the alleged event, highlighting it with sensationalized headlines.
Netizens exposed the report as fake news within two hours, with the Apple Daily’s follow-up story being forwarded to the PTT forum on Japan travel, Du said.
Forum user “GuRuGuRu” criticized the report based on personal experience, he added.
“The media then claimed that the PTT forum discussion was the source of the fake news. Consequently, we took the report down the day it was published,” Du said, adding that the PTT users who had actually exposed the fake news had been condemned as its perpetrators.
“I am more curious as to why this fake news persists without anyone coming forward to update or revise it,” Du said. “Is it because they want people to reread the report and blame the PTT system all over again?”
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan