A Taiwanese woman was arrested on April 22 after she posted a simple question to social media inquiring whether one of the country’s most prominent political figures had passed away. The woman — oddly identified in local media reports as simply a “44-year-old unemployed woman” — was charged with violating Taiwan’s Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) by posting the question: “Has Chen Chu died?” on the PTT Bulletin Board System (批踢踢), the largest terminal-based bulletin board system in Taiwan. Chen Chu (陳菊), president of the Control Yuan and chairwoman of the National Human Rights Commission since 2020, is one of Taiwan’s most prominent political figures, and was jailed as a political dissident during the country’s martial law period. The woman facing charges for violating social order claimed that she was responding to an unspecified Threads post about “a celebrity passing away” while remembering news of Chen’s hospitalization. Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital “quickly denied the rumors,” according to a report from Central News Agency, stating Chen’s rehabilitation is “stable and continuously improving.” Police tracked the woman through her IP address within four hours. She later apologized, addressing Chen by a popular nickname, writing: “Flower Mom (花媽), I’m sorry to have caused you such a disturbance.”
