Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭) yesterday called for an investigation into organized online harassment campaigns.
Yeh, a member of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, convened a special report on disruptions caused by organized groups, sometimes referred to as “cyberarmies,” that harass public officials or spread misinformation.
Nobody is safe from anonymous attacks online, Yeh said, adding that members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have also been targeted.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“Yet no one takes the issue seriously,” she said. “Is the Ministry of Justice also afraid of being targeted?”
She said that the problem has extended beyond the nation’s borders, driving WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last year to plead with Taiwanese to stop “racist attacks” against him.
Saying she feared DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) would declare yesterday’s proceedings unconstitutional, Yeh said the investigation would not focus on any single case.
New incidents are happening every day, making people fearful that they could be next, creating a “collective anxiety,” she said.
If the law did not protect DPP Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) from allegedly being assaulted by her boyfriend last month, “how could anyone be protected from being defamed or harmed by a cyberarmy?” she asked.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that the police would investigate crimes according to the law, no matter who is involved.
Freedom of speech is protected, but spreading misinformation to harm others online would be severely punished, Tsai said.
In related news, the Cabinet yesterday said that many people sent in feedback after Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) called for a letter drive urging the government to crack down on online trolling.
Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) inbox is full of messages, although the exact number is unclear, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference in Taipei.
The government has an obligation to report on its specific policies and positions, Lo said, rejecting insinuations that it has a cyberarmy to harass political enemies.
There are certain legal protections against making online threats or spreading misinformation, he said, referencing fact-checking and other approaches that have achieved international recognition.
Ko’s former photographer, Pan Jin-lin (潘俊霖), criticized the mayor’s letter drive, saying in an interview on Wednesday that the mayor was the “progenitor of the dark forces.”
Ko claiming the moral high ground is absurd, Pan said, claiming that his former boss said nothing when Pan was attacked online by the mayor’s supporters and his Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
Ko laughed off the remarks when asked to respond, saying that all the perpetrators who have been caught are DPP supporters.
He did not directly respond when asked if the TPP has its own cyberarmy.
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