The Executive Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that would have offenders face maximum fines of up to NT$30,000 for spreading hate speech in public places such as parks and train stations.
According to the draft amendment, people advocating, promoting, spreading, or broadcasting hate speech, terrorist ideology, or claims from foreign hostile forces that escalate social division or seek to eliminate the country’s sovereignty in public places such as parks or stations with flags, slogans, or related materials, and that are likely to affect public order, would face detention for up to three days or a fine of up to NT$30,000.
The Ministry of the Interior said that hate speech affects the unity of the public.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
When such speech is spread in public places, it is necessary to regulate it to maintain public order, it said, adding that as speech transmitted via the Internet has no boundaries, the widespread dissemination or transmission of such speech online makes it necessary to add regulations and management provisions.
The draft also adds provisions that if hate speech, terrorism, or claims from foreign hostile forces advocating for the escalation of social division or the elimination of the country’s sovereignty are publicly promoted, spread, or broadcast on the Internet, and such actions are likely to affect public order, the ministry may order Internet platform, content or application service providers to restrict access to the content, remove it, or take measures such as restricting or terminating the user’s account or service, the ministry said.
The content on the Internet is diverse, and it has become common for people to use the Internet for private communications, the ministry said.
For private personal messages which might be controversial, the impact on public order is generally minor, and there is no need for intervention or regulation, it said, adding that this is to balance the right to privacy in communications.
Therefore, the scope of the amendment focuses on “public” Internet content, such as setting up Web sites or using social media to post information that is freely accessible to the public, it said.
On how such public speech would be handled, Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said that after the metro attack in Taipei on Friday last week, there has been a lot of imitative speech online.
If there are specific threats made, such as mentioning a particular place to threaten the public, it would be dealt with according to Article 151 of the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of up to 2 years in prison, he said.
The Social Order Maintenance Act mainly targets more general, widespread speech that is not aimed at a specific individual or group, he said.
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