Lawmakers yesterday weighed in on calls to amend the National Security Act (國家安全法) — an issue that has generated much public discussion since Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, committed suicide last week.
Su was allegedly the victim of fake news disseminated by a number of Chinese agencies, including Xinhua news agency and the Guancha Syndicate, which earlier this month reported that the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) sent a shuttle bus to Kansai International Airport and evacuated “Chinese” stranded by Typhoon Jebi, including some Taiwanese.
Su said in his suicide note that he had been troubled by the “news,” which was proven false by the Japanese airport after Su’s death.
When asked yesterday whether the Ministry of the Interior was going to amend the act to combat fake news, Executive Yuan deputy spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) said that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) had tendered a motion to amend it.
The government believes that agendas behind fake news reports from overseas could pose national security risks and must not be overlooked, Ting said.
The ministry and the National Communications Commission are reviewing the act and other regulations, and assessing the need for an amendment to curb fake news, he said, adding that the government would reference laws passed by other democratic nations.
Yeh yesterday said that her draft amendment seeks to include the “fifth domain” (the Internet) within the scope of national security.
“The sovereignty of the Republic of China covers the cyberspace delineated by its Internet infrastructure as well as its territories,” the amendment reads.
In a globalized and information-based era, the nation is under threat by state-sponsored and private hackers, who infiltrate and sabotage the nation’s information infrastructure, Yeh said.
Asked whether the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would propose legislation to curb fake news, KMT caucus secretary-general William Tseng (曾銘宗) said it would not, as such a move could limit press freedom and freedom of speech, which Taiwan cherishes.
Most nations do not have an agency that governs the distribution of news, but place the matter in the hands of self-regulating organizations, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
DIPLOMATIC MOVES: Beijing is reportedly pressing the state after reports of forming links with Taiwan, while the ministry is also planning to reopen its office in Guam soon A representative office is set to open in Somaliland at the end of this month, at the earliest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday amid reports that Beijing is sending a diplomatic delegation to the east African country. The ministry on July 1 announced that Taiwan and Somaliland would establish representative offices, following a report by the Somaliland Chronicle Web site. It said at the time that the two nations did not plan to establish formal ties. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has instructed close confidants to explore the possibility of “mutual recognition between Taiwan and Somaliland,” the Somaliland Chronicle reported
A Belgian man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan last week is likely to have contracted the disease in Taipei in late June, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported that the man, who is in his 20s, came to Taiwan for work on May 3 and tested positive on Wednesday last week as he was about to depart. The man in March reported loss of taste and smell, the center said, adding that he worked in Changhua County, but visited Taipei several times,
NEW CASE REPORTED: A man who returned from South Africa on a flight with the nation’s 460th and 461st cases has now tested positive for the disease The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that there is no need to test all arrivals to the nation for COVID-19, a policy the Executive Yuan supports. The center reported one new imported case, bringing the nation’s tally of confirmed cases to 477. The new case is a Taiwanese man in his 60s who on July 25 returned from South Africa, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman. The man had returned to Taiwan on the same flight as cases Nos. 460 and 461, reported on July 27, Chuang said. On July 24,
RSS