Tools and Method on vTaiwan

Tools & Method Avross, Senior Legal Consultant of PDIS

“Many people are mostly hearing more and louder echoes of their own voices.”

“Your judgment appears to be a product of your values and identity.” ─ Cass R. Sunstein, 2017

Autonomy & Empowerment     

Consensus-based process Participant-oriented agenda Rolling correction Open format No strict rules

The Tools

Process

1. Proposal

2. Opinion

3. Reflection

Online Opinion Collection

Consultation Meeting

4. Legislation/ Regulation

Mini Hackathons on Wednesdays & Occasional Internal Meetings

Tools that enhance participation interpretation facilitation documentation

By Shuyang Lin

The Concept behind Each Tool ď ľ Interpretation mechanism emphasizes the importance to bridge communication gaps among people from diverse backgrounds by interpreting terminologies, jargons and vocabularies in various contexts. ď ľ Facilitation mechanism draws the overall engagement from conflicts to consensus.

Interpretation is for veterans to get the ideas across to the laymen, while facilitation is the art of collecting opinions from the public. ď ľ Documentation mechanism highlights the importance of transparency and accountability.

Transparency Transparency—of the process as well as the data—allows participants to understand the decisions taken through the vTaiwan process. Transparency also contributes to the establishment and elaboration of trust in the vTaiwan process and strengthens the legitimacy of the decisions taken throughout the four stages of vTaiwan.

Proposal

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1. Come up with a good name/title

with the community contributors in mini hackathon

We had a long debate about how to translate “non-consensual” into Chinese and how to coin the term “pornography” in Chinese.

About non-consensual, we focused on the aspect of “being against one’s will.”

As for “pornography,” since the Ministry of Justice suggested not limiting the idea of pornography to “sexual suggestiveness” only, they believed “bodily intimate images” would be more inclusive of other scenarios. 違反本人意願而散布本人的身體私密影像 Dissemination of one’s bodily intimate images against one’s will https://vtaiwan.tw/topic/nonconsensual-pornography

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2. Narrow down the scope of the topic 3. Ensure the scope is fit for the purpose 4. Map out the strategy 5. Find out the competent authority with the community contributors in mini hackathon

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hackfoldr.org

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6. Choose the right tool for opinion collection If the air is not clear, use Pol.is (unorganized) If the air is clear, use Discourse (organized) If you are not sure, you can go traditional, use Sli.do or Typeform

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Brief explanation on the topic

Make an outline, set topics and subtopics

Tag the ministry!

They are obliged to reply within 7 day.

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7. Publish relevant presentations, documents, research papers from research team, competent aithority or proposer

Online Opinion Collection

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1. Set up a good guidance 1. To post comment, always start with “I feel …”

2. Every comment is independent, so there is no need to reply others’ comments 3. Post different reflective opinions in separate comments, and do not use question mark

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2. Write a brief introduction on welcome page 1.

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Keep it short Friendly for all Explain the purpose and the use of the result State what’s coming next

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3. Seed some comments

• I feel that “the non-consensual distribution of bodily intimate images” is a crime.

• I feel “whether it is bodily intimate image” depends on the person who has been photographed.

• I feel that “men’s nipple” is “bodily intimate image.”

• I feel that any “bodily intimate image” should at least contain “full-frontal nudity.”

• I feel that any content containing sexual suggestiveness, including images and sounds, should be counted as “bodily intimate images.”

• I feel that “sweet talk between husband and wife ” is “bodily intimate image.”

• I feel that “moaning” is a kind of bodily intimate images.

• I feel that despite of lack of harmful intent, “sharing” others’ bodily intimate images should also be criminalized.

• I feel that “the non-consensual distribution of bodily intimate images” does not happen to couples only.

• I feel that the current criminality codified as “spreading of obscene objects” and “aggravated defamation” are enough to penalize the actor.

• I feel that the main reason to criminalize “the non-consensual distribution of bodily intimate images” is to protect privacy, not necessarily to defend social morality concern.

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4. Ask for contribution in the survey 1. Ask whether the participant is willing to publish their opinions 2. Ask if the participant wants to stay anonymous 3. Ask whether the participants is willing to become an interviewee 4. Ask for any suggestion about candidates/interviewees (rolling questionnaire) 5. Opt-in or subscribe the email

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5. Run for at least a month 1. Try to draw more attention (new release, messages, updates on social network)

2. Spread the link 3. Keep records by using screenshots for Pol.is

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6. Publish the report (raw & second-hand) 1. The report will be the material for the upcoming mini hackathons and in-person stakeholders meetings 2. Discuss the report in mini hackathon to figure out the next step, either initiating one more round or going on to the in-person stakeholders meeting 3. Submit the report to the competent authority

The Method

Focused Conversation Method (ORID)

 Objective – facts and data vTaiwan is a project.

 Reflective – emotions and feelings I think vTaiwan is a great project.

 Interpretive – opinions and values vTaiwan is a project that should expand.

 Decisional – decisions and consensuses We concluded that vTaiwan expands within a month.

Focused Conversation Method (ORID) NCII case “In japan, before the legislation, there had been one case in one month at most. After the legislation, there had been over 30 cases in one month. It seemed that this issue was put on the table because of the legislation.”

“This reminds me of Domestic Violence Prevention Act. Before this Act, most people didn’t see domestic violence as a crime.

However, since the enactment this Act, people have believed this is not right for long. Now, we agree that we should protect the victims, blame on the actors, and improve the procedural protections.”

“The legislation can serve the purpose of telling people this is an act of crime.”

Focused Conversation Method (ORID) NCII case “The legislation is not just for the punishment of the actors, but more importantly, it’s for the benefit of the victims by providing assistance and transforming the atmosphere of degrading the victims.”

“Civil procedure is highly debated among foreign countries.”

However, I think compared with the permanent damage to the victims after the dissemination, criminal punishment on the actors is very much ignored.”

“From a legal standpoint, I don’t think we need so much of legislation. Otherwise, it will never end. I think having a considerable level of flexibility in law is good in this fastchanging society.“

So…  What is the rough consensus?  Should we criminalize the actor?  Should we specifically regulate the act of NCII?

Focused Conversation Method (ORID) NCII case “Police will contact the ISP after case is reported. Companies in Taiwan will cooperate and take down the content, but the problem lies within the illegal companies and foreign companies.”

“We need to focus more on the liability of ISP, and see if we can adapt to the characteristics of the Internet.”

“The definition of privacy varies among different countries.

Under this circumstance, I think a better solution might be selfdiscipline or self-regulation rather than the liabilities.”

“I think a standard of procedure, such as the one in the copyright act, can be a solution to this.”

Focused Conversation Method (ORID) NCII case “What exactly do the victims want? Punishment on the actors?

I think they hope all of this can end. The image can be removed and deleted, be forgotten.”

“Should we put an emphasis on a faster way of law enforcement? If the enforcement takes long, the legislation will still be useless. Should we discuss more on a law enforcement techniques, which might be more practical?”

“If the process is slow, the problems still remain. In the digital era, many problems result from slowness of procedure. If we can’t be fast enough to stop it, the damage is irreparable, just like trade secrets. ”

So…  Should the ISP be responsible for the takedown of NCII?  How should we regulate the liabilities of ISP?