Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (
Current 3G mobile phones provide a range of high-tech functions and services, including pornographic clips and pictures of nude women for a mere NT$30 to NT$40 a month -- to which under-age teens can easily gain access.
In response to questions concerning what regulations exist to restrict the distribution of pornographic material on telecommunications services, a government official gave a simple response.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"If service providers go against telecommunications regulations, then their actions can be terminated immediately," said Tsai Ping-huang (
Tsai said that next week a meeting would be held with service providers of 3G mobile phones to let them know that material of a sexual nature would be monitored, and that "illegal actions" would be dealt with strictly, with penalties including fines of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million.
"In serious cases, the service provider's license may be taken away," Tsai said.
One police official described specific actions the government could take to monitor the distribution of porn.
"We can ask service providers to make sure that the pornographic material provided by the contracted party does not go against regulations," said Kung Ling-kuo (
Kung however stressed that the development of modern technology reflected online and on 3G mobile phones, posed bigger problems in monitoring the actions of minors, compared to other professional contexts.
Huang was concerned that despite restrictions, virtually anyone could still gain access to pornographic material.
"There should be some kind of password that is needed to access this material," Huang said, adding that he hoped measures would be taken to make this happen before 3G mobiles became more popular.
Liou Li-chen (劉麗貞), head of the Student Affairs Committee under the Ministry of Education (MOE), said that the MOE would incorporate education about sex in the communications industry as part of the personal social health curriculum, while trying to educate students about what constituted a healthy attitude toward relationships between the two sexes.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS