A woman who sued a gynecologist and a media firm over their responses to reports that she had been fined in the Philippines over her “too small” swimwear yesterday had her case thrown out.
The Supreme Court said that reporting on the incident involving the New Taipei City woman, surnamed Lin (林), was not defamatory and was not an invasion of her privacy after police on the Philippine resort island of Boracay fined her 2,500 pesos (US$44) for “indecent exposure” due to her string bikini.
It was the final verdict after Lin appealed similar rulings handed down by two lower courts.
Photo: AFP
The Supreme Court said that the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom of speech and the public nature of the story justified reporting on the case by EBC TV as well as comments by Jeng Cherng-jye (鄭丞傑), a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Kaohsiung Medical University.
Lin’s had sought NT$1.2 million (US$37,664) from EBC TV and NT$600,000 from Jeng.
In October 2019, Lin, who was holidaying in the Philippines with her boyfriend, was photographed on Puka Beach wearing a string bikini.
Philippine media reported that the images went viral on social media, prompting authorities to act.
Police Chief Jess Baylon described the swimwear as “literally just a string.”
Tourists should “observe proper decorum out of respect for Philippine culture,” Baylon said.
The reports were picked up in Taiwan, with media reporting information and images from Lin’s social media accounts.
Lin sued EBC, saying that it had invaded her privacy in contravention of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and tarnished her reputation.
EBC also misreported Baylon’s description of her case, she told the courts.
She sued Jeng over his comments on Facebook.
Lin said that Jeng’s post, which was shared along with a photo of her in the bikini, was insulting, prejudiced and a form of sexual harassment.
She sought a public apology along with the compensation.
However, the Supreme Court backed the rulings of the district and high courts, saying that Jeng had used his experience as a gynecologist and mocking language to advise people about “adapting to changing times.”
“They were his personal views and are protected by freedom of expression,” it said.
Moreover, EBC’s reporting did not contravene the Personal Data Protection Act, as it was public discourse and the incident had been widely reported, the Supreme Court said.
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