Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) yesterday accused Taiwanese media and political pundits of rampant abuse of the freedom of speech and making unsubstantiated accusations, amid widely reported allegations that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his campaign team received an off-the-books political donation from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團).
Luo made the remarks during a project report on democratic rule of law and freedom of speech in a monthly meeting at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
“Free speech is the core value of democracy. Since people are in control in a democratic country, it is the government’s utmost responsibility to safeguard the people’s rights,” Luo said.
However, the media have shown no restraint in their reporting and have fabricated news stories, Luo said, before going on to accuse social activists of taking increasingly aggressive approaches aimed at generating media attention and accused political pundits of taking advantage of their positions to make false accusations.
Luo’s rhetoric was perceived by some as a defense of Ma against media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻), who alleged earlier this month that Ma had received a secret donation from Ting Hsin — which has been embroiled in several food safety scandals — through a confidant, believing it to be within the legal boundaries for campaign fundraising.
Chou’s allegations led to a decision by the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office yesterday to launch a probe into the matter.
Luo also said that society is divided as to how far the boundaries of free speech should be stretched, that online bullying has become rampant due to abuse of the freedom of speech on the Internet and that the current Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法) has been an impediment in investigations into online defamation cases.
“The public’s common lack of democratic values poses a threat to our democratic society... People’s abuse of free speech often goes beyond the boundary of the law and against the true meaning of the constitutional protection of free speech,” Luo said.
“If Internet speech continues to be out of control, the Internet arena could become a haven for lawbreakers,” she added.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Luo said that relevant government agencies are considering amending the Communication Security and Surveillance Act to address the problem of online defamation and inappropriate comments.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS