Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of not taking action after an agriculture expert and a legislator received threats online for discussing issues with the government’s handling of egg imports.
Lin Yu-hong (林裕紘), who uses the Facebook handle Lin Bay Hao Yu (Lin Bay 好油), last week said on the online show of former New Power Party legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) that he would stop posting after receiving threats for criticizing the Ministry of Agriculture over its handling of egg imports.
Based on screenshots circulated online, a person wrote to Lin telling him he was “very capable” of exposing government scandals, adding that he knew the name of Lin’s wife and their address, and that he should watch out for the safety of his family.
Photo courtesy of the KMT caucus
“I need to protect my family, so I will stop updating my Facebook account... I tried to be brave, but I am a father after all,” Lin told Huang.
KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) yesterday said that she sympathized with Lin, as she on July 26 received messages on Facebook telling her not to “mess with the DPP.”
One message said the DPP had recruited someone to kill her, and it included a picture of a gun, she said.
“We strongly condemn actions that impede free speech and threaten people’s personal safety. We also condemn the cyberarmy and the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for showing such contempt for the rule of law,” KMT caucus whip Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) told a news conference in Taipei.
“We highly suspect that the government was involved in these acts of intimidation. The posters could access people’s addresses and the names of their family members, and the government has done nothing to stop them from repeatedly threatening lawmakers of opposition parties. Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) should face the nation to answer these allegations,” Tseng said.
As the ruling party, the DPP has the responsibility to protect people’s freedom of speech and freedom from fear, KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said.
The president and the premier should order the police and prosecutors to investigate the posts, Fai said.
“They [Tsai and Chen] should not take secret delight in hearing that people and opposition lawmakers who are critical of the ruling party are being threatened,” he added.
KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that officials from the Ministry of Justice, National Police Agency, National Communications Commission and Ministry of Digital Affairs should investigate the threats.
“The Ministry of Digital Affairs is allocated an annual budget of NT$20 billion [US$622.12 million]. Can they not locate a person’s IP [Internet protocol] address even if it is registered overseas?” he said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau said the IP addresses of Facebook users who threatened Lin Yu-hong and his family were registered in Mexico, and the telephone number that was used for Facebook registration is from El Salvador.
“Through Interpol, we have asked for assistance from police in Mexico and El Salvador to help us investigate the matter,” bureau Director-General Chou Yu-wei (周幼偉) said. “We also seeking to pursue this matter through channels for international mutual judicial assistance.”
The police also found that the IP addresses of the Facebook users who threatened Wang were registered in the US, adding that they logged into the account in Malaysia and Vietnam, the bureau said.
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