What is the “Institute of Watch Internet Network”?
(1.) Article 46 of The Protection of Children and Youths Welfare Act provides for
communications authorities to encourage various authorized agencies and
commissioned private groups to establish content protection mechanisms and
handle the following matters to prevent children and youth from being exposed to
Internet content that is harmful to their mental development:
1. Observation of Internet usage behavior by children and youths.
2. Establishment and implementation of complaint mechanisms.
3. Promotion and review of content rating systems.
4. Establishment and promotion of screening software.
5. Internet safety education and advocacy for children and youth.
6. Promotion of self-regulatory mechanisms established by Internet platform
providers.
7. Establishment and promotion of other protective mechanisms.
(2.) The “Institute of Watch Internet Network” (iWIN) was officially established on
August 1, 2013 to establish and promote matters related to protection mechanisms for
Internet usage by children and youths.
(3.) To implement follow-up processing of the reports accepted by iWIN, the
municipality, city, and county governments process Internet content that is in violation of
the clauses of regulations on children and youth according to the procedures for handling
cases flagged by iWIN and the “Principles for Processing Internet Content in Violation of
Regulations on Children and Youth.”
What is child and youth sexual transaction prevention?
Child and youth sexual transactions refer to sexual intercourse or indecent behavior with
children or youth in exchange for a consideration.
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What assistance can the government provide for cases of child and youth sexual transactions?
(1.) Care centers provide emergency shelters, consultations, continued assistance, or other
necessary measures to prevent children and adolescents under the age of 18 who are
separated from their families from falling into vice establishments.
(2.) Emergency placement: When judges, prosecutors, judicial police officers, judicial
police, and joint investigation teams discover and rescue children or adolescents who
have engaged in sexual transactions or are in danger of engaging in sexual
transactions, the children or adolescents are sent within 24 hours to emergency
shelters established by the competent authorities of the municipality or county (city)
and provided with necessary protection, placement, or other assistance.
(3.) Short-term shelters: Courts should rule that children or adolescents who appear to
have not engaged in sexual transactions or to not be in danger of engaging in sexual
transactions should not receive placement and should be returned to their legal
representatives, parents or guardians, next of kin, or other appropriate people. For
children or adolescents that should not be placed in short-term shelters on special
grounds, courts may rule that they be placed in other appropriate locations by the
competent authorities.
(4.) Welfare agencies or halfway schools: When courts rule that children or adolescents
have not engaged in sexual transactions or are not in danger of engaging in sexual
transactions, they should rule that the children not receive placement and should be
returned to their legal representatives, parents or guardians, next of kin, or other
appropriate people. However, when courts rule that children or adolescents have
engaged in sexual transactions, with the exception of several circumstances, courts
should rule that they be placed in halfway schools for two years of special education.
What should I do if I discover bad websites or Internet content that is in violation of
regulations on the prevention of child and youth sexual transactions?
If you discover bad websites or Internet content that is in violation of regulations on the
prevention of child and youth sexual transactions, please report it immediately to iWIN
(https://www.win.org.tw/cap/iwin/report.html) for intervention by specialists.
To whom should I report suspected cases of child and youth sexual transactions?
Report by phone to the social affairs
bureau (department) of the municipality or county
(city) or to the local police.
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