MOI pushes legal changes to better protect children
17 May 2010
| MOI pushes legal changes to better protect children 2010/05/17 20:48:01 |
| Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Revisions to the Children and Youth Welfare Act are needed in order to better protect the well-being of minors, Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah said Monday. Since the welfare law was promulgated in 2003, both the general social situation and family structure in Taiwan have changed significantly, necessitating changes to the statute, Jiang said at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee. "Amendments have therefore been drafted to provide more concrete and comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents," Jiang told lawmakers. The amendments drafted by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) focus on two major areas -- more strictly regulating media operators and Internet service providers and establishing better adoption and foster care mechanisms to prevent illegal human trafficking, Jiang said. Noting that the news media and the Internet have emerged as major information sources, Jiang said they should be subject to tougher rules to protect local youngsters from exposure to pornography or other inappropriate materials. With handsets, palm games and video games becoming ever more popular among teenagers, Jiang said, it is necessary to revise the welfare law to authorize stricter management of video game software, including subjecting it to a rating system. A self-discipline mechanism should also be developed to better insulate minors from exposure to unsuitable Internet content, Jiang said. Once the draft amendments clear the Legislature, Jiang said, the central and local governments should cooperate closely to craft a more comprehensive protective system for minors. On the improvement of the adoption system, the MOI-drafted amendments stipulate that only legally established foundations as well as public- or private-run child shelter organizations are eligible to serve as intermediaries in adoption cases. The draft amendments also provide that in the event of adoption, local adoptive hopefuls should be given priority over foreign candidates. The legislative committee completed the first review of draft amendments regarding child adoption Monday, but had yet to screen the new restrictions on media and Internet content providers. (By Ho Meng-kuei and Sofia Wu) enditem/ls |
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