Cabinet proposes public speech rulesSOCIAL HARMONY: The bill would only affect speech made in public likely to cause social problems, leaving private and personal communications protected as a rightBy Chung Li-hua and Chen Cheng-yu / Staff reportersThe 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. The Ministry of the Interior said that hate speech affects the unity of the public. 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. The Social Order Maintenance Act mainly targets more general, widespread speech that is not aimed at a specific individual or group, he said.

Source: Taipei Times December 26, 2025 17:17 UTC