Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai on Wednesday talked with the media about cleaning up "outdated” cultural laws and regulations which began six months ago. She said such gradual improvements as the amendment of Article 100 of the Criminal Code in 1992 and the abolition of Publication Law in 1999 are "the milestone of social progress.”
The Minister pointed out that more than two decades after Taiwan lifted the martial law, many outdated control laws and regulations such as the 4-page Films Examination Regulations she was holding in her hand still do not keep up with the social reality.
Such laws and regulations need to be reviewed and cleaned up, stressed the Minister. After being established in May 2012, the first major task for the Ministry was to take an inventory of laws and regulations related to culture in preparation for repealing or revising outdated ones.
"After having observed Taiwan's social progress for a long time, I seem to have entered a time tunnel when dealing with the existing laws and regulations related to movies. And I have a lot of mixed feelings,” said Lung.
For example, the Motion Picture Acts points out that seven types of movie content, including anything that may "harm the interest or dignity of the country,” "violate national policies or government acts,” and "instigate crime or violation of law,” could be removed or blurred after being examined carefully.
The R-rated films, restricted to viewers aged 18 and older, allow for an actor or actress to be naked without exposing genitals, while PG-rated ones may show naked body being covered or seen through frosted glass. However, films showing exaggerated or abnormal sexual intercourse can be deleted or banned from release.
The Ministry has launched a large-scale review of outdated laws and regulations under its jurisdiction, Lung said. "The laws were very strict during the martial rule. Despite the abolition of the Publication Law and the revision of Article 100 of the Criminal Code, there are still many more to be dealt with or repealed step by step.”
The Minister told the press conference that film regulations, guidelines on allowing the import of Hong Kong and Macau publications, films, videos, radio programs and TV shows to Taiwan, and the Motion Picture Act are among the first ones to be repealed or revised after a serious review. A large number of civil servants have to be assigned to make the outdated laws and regulations ones that keep up with society's progress, added the Minister.
She pointed out that the Motion Picture Act stipulates that movie industry workers are required to be registered and that the owner of a movie company "must be at least a senior high school graduate.” In addition, the act stresses that films shall "promote Chinese culture and national policies, perform the function of social education, and advocate legitimate entertainment.”
Many of the regulations which had been used as a means of control of the state apparatus are no longer meaningful nowadays and "not in line with Taiwan's progress and openness,” said the Minister.
The recent controversial review on the poster of a Taiwanese film titled "The Ghost Tales” is also related to the outdated act. Thus, it is indeed necessary to push for amending the act and removing outdated regulations, she added.
Citing the film rating system in France as an example, the Minister said France invites 100 movie industry and education experts and citizen representatives to jointly decide the rating of films. This mechanism of operating through the self-discipline of civil society is a great example for Taiwan to follow when revising the Motion Picture Act, she noted, adding that "Reviewing the film rating should be in line with both the spirit of progress and social and moral norms, so that a citizen's self-discipline may play a better function.”
Although the Executive Yuan sent in November 2009 the revised Motion Picture Act to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation, the Ministry is reviewing the articles one by one with a more open and progressive thinking because the audiovisual industries have made significant improvements over the past three years.
"Amending the law does not mean overall deregulation, and we want the revised law to reflect the core values of society. Films are not a government propaganda tool,” she stated.
The Ministry is also reviewing the Basic Culture Act and the Culture and Arts Reward Act. "We must be very careful when dealing with acts that lay the foundation for entire industries,” said the Minister.
The Ministry will hold public hearings to discuss the issue with related industries after finalizing the revisions. Lung said she hoped a brand-new version of relevant laws can be submitted to the next Legislative Yuan session for deliberation, which will establish a major milestone if they pass.