A person in a dispute who scorned another on social media by using abbreviations of the Zhuyin Fuhao (注音符號) phonetic system, commonly known as “Bopomofo,” has been found guilty of making a public insult and ordered to pay a NT$5,000 fine.
The Taichung District Court ruled that the defendant, a woman surnamed Chen (陳), had written a severe insult in posting her message on the online public forum Dcard, using five phonetic symbols — “ㄍㄋㄋㄐㄅ” — which although it appears as a cryptic code to people unfamiliar with the Bopomofo system, could be read aloud as an expletive, obscene phrase in both Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
ONLINE INSULT
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
Chen was quoted as saying that she only got to know the plaintiff, a woman surnamed Lee (李), when buying shoes through the Shopee Web site, and had a dispute with Lee when she asked to return a pair of shoes.
Chen told the judge that Lee had first written a contemptuous response, and had misunderstood the situation, while stating her reply was not aimed at Lee.
In examining the evidence, the judge found that Chen had posted a conversation between the two sides to Dcard, with the aim of sharing the content with others, while also making Lee’s personal information — including Lee’s Instagram and Facebook accounts — publicly available.
The court added that upon questioning, Chen admitted to writing “ㄍㄋㄋㄐㄅ” as an abbreviation for the colloquially obscene phrase.
The judge ruled that Chen had publicly insulted Lee.
The judge ruled that the case had sufficient evidence and found her guilty of making a public insult, thus violating Article 309 of the Criminal Code. The judge ordered Chen to pay a NT$5,000 fine.
The ruling may be appealed.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS