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Ministry links
activists¡¦ names to pro-nuclear site
¡¥DESPICABLE¡¦: Search engines have since taken
down the keyword advertising that linked anti-nuclear activists¡¦ names to the
site, but at least one is considering suing
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
The Ministry of Economic Affairs¡¦
Bureau of Energy has admitted that it bought keyword advertising linking the
names of several prominent anti-nuclear activists, including Tokyo-based
Taiwanese anti-nuclear writer Liu Li-erh, with a pro-nuclear Web site.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Ministry of Economic Affairs¡¦ Bureau
of Energy has admitted that it bought keyword advertising linking the names of
several prominent anti-nuclear activists with a pro-nuclear Web site when any of
their names is entered in search engines.
The anti-nuclear activists from various civic groups discovered that when they
searched for their own names on Google, Yahoo and other search engines, a
pro-nuclear power Web site (anuclear-safety.twenergy.org.tw) operated by the
ministry will appear as the first suggested Web site.
As the Web site¡¦s content is clearly in contrast with the activists¡¦ beliefs
about nuclear power, the anti-nuclear advocates, including Nuclear-Free Homeland
Alliance executive director Lee Cho-han (§õ¨ô¿«), Tokyo-based Taiwanese
anti-nuclear writer Liu Li-erh (¼B¾¤¨à) and Green Consumers Foundation chairman Jay
Fang (¤è»ü), among others, expressed anger and disgust about the advertising link.
The linkage was first discovered by Lee last week when he was searching for his
own name on Google. He immediately contacted Google and Yahoo on the same day,
asking them to take down the advertisement.
The Bureau of Energy said on Tuesday that it had bought the keyword
advertisement on popular search engines, linking to a total of 92 keywords ¡X
including 29 names of people who often spoke publicly about nuclear power.
The bureau said that it not only linked the Web site to names of anti-nuclear
activists, but also government officials, such as Premier Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì)
and Taiwan Power Co vice president Chen Pu-tsan (³¯¥¬Àé), and that the purpose was
to allow members of the public who are interested in nuclear power issues to
notice the official Web site and get another perspective.
In response, Liu posted a statement on anti-nuclear power group Mom Loves
Taiwan¡¦s Facebook page, calling the ministry ¡§detestable¡¨ for spending
taxpayers¡¦ money on ¡§using lies and contrary opinions to link with my name, and
making people who searched my name wanting to understand me, drink poison and be
brainwashed.¡¨
Fang also criticized the situation through his Facebook page, saying that the
behavior is ¡§extremely despicable¡¨ and suggested that legislators and the
Control Yuan investigate whether the government official that spent taxpayers¡¦
money on buying advertisements, thereby infringing upon basic human rights are
qualified to manage the nation¡¦s energy policies.
Although the search engines took down the links on Tuesday, Lee said he is
considering filing a lawsuit against the bureau for its disrespect to these
individuals, for which it had not even apologized.
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