#Me Too Movement
by Nicole Liao
photos by Nicole Liao
The origin of #MeToo movement could be traced back to 2006 when Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist, identified the phrase “me too” as a support to victims of sexual violence, especially women of colors. The movement did not take off until October 2017 when Alyssa Milano, an American actress, posted a message on Twitter. The post was encouraging women survived from sexual harassments and assaults to write down “Me too” to call for the attention of this problem that has been long ignored, and the hashtag went viral. By the end of 2017, the hashtag had reached to 85 countries and there are over 16 million posts using #MeToo to support this event or either share their stories.
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oppressed journalists from writing stories about sexual scandals. While the public became highly aware of this issue, some people started to concern that the heat was getting too high and it would have serious backlash.
The huge amount of news about sexual abuse caused a backlash against #MeToo Movement, and these scandals pushed men to start defending themselves. Although there are tons of accusations, not all of them are true. It was a fact that some people are falsely accused and they were blamed for an ill behavior that he had never done before, which makes the whole movement become a bit like a modern witch hunt and now every man is in danger. According to a |
The effect of #MeToo Movement was tremendous, especially in the media industry. Accusations against powerful male movie makers, directors, television host, etc. popped up and most of them were proven to be true, and those who were accused were brought down. The most notorious example was the famous producer Harvey Weinstein, who was accused by more than 80 women in the film industry of sexual harassment and assault. The scandal shocked the world and raised public awareness of this problem. Not only in the media industry, but there were also senators, business owners, and government officials that were accused to be guilty of sexual harassment and assault in working environment. For example, John Green, a famous businessman got bad reputation due to #MeToo movement. Although he was not accused of any sexual misconduct, Green was reported that he
poll conducted in 2017, more men than before considered women are oversensitive about sexual misconducts and a lot of allegations are false. The result shows that although the public did take the sexual misconduct issue seriously, people started to consider some women are overthinking and it impacts on some innocent people’s life. To make things worse, a lot of men started to avoid unnecessary contact with women to prevent the risk of being accused as assailants. The relationship between male and female becomes really tense, and it does not seem helpful in improving gender equality. On the contrary, it has deepened the gap and misunderstanding between genders which could end up losing harmony of the society. Once men started to fear being accused of sexual misconduct, especially in workplaces, they may stop working with women and even stop hiring female employees, which does not help in promoting gender equality at work at all.
In Taiwan, a new hashtag, # 越想越不對勁 ,was invented in response to the backlash against #MeToo movement. The literal meaning of this hashtag is someone feels wrong after an incident, and the feeling lingers on. Originally, the phrase was common in news about sex crime that the female victim has not realized that it was sexual misconduct after a while. In the aftermath of the misconduct, the victim finally decides to sue the assailant and seek justice. However, incidents like this are too frequent and a lot of them were
eventually proven a trap for the accused assailants’ money. At last, # 越 想 越 不 對 勁 becomes a sarcasm to tease fake victims or females that are overly sensitive. Because of the rise of #MeToo movement, more and more females in Taiwan
stand up and speak out their stories related to sexual misconducts. Yet, there are too many fake incidents and people starts to doubt the integrity of each case. Consequently, the intention of #MeToo movement is twisted. The movement are facing a serious backlash and the effect seems to go to the opposite way.
Since 2017, #MeToo movement has spread globally and influenced millions of people. The intention of this campaign is positive and it did raise the public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment and assault. However, due to the large scale of the whole movement, there is a serious backlash that should never be ignored. To speak up against injustice is amazing, at the same time, it is vital to keep a balance between seeking justice and influence on society. In this sense, a greater good would more likely to be achieved.
poll conducted in 2017, more men than before considered women are oversensitive about sexual misconducts and a lot of allegations are false. The result shows that although the public did take the sexual misconduct issue seriously, people started to consider some women are overthinking and it impacts on some innocent people’s life. To make things worse, a lot of men started to avoid unnecessary contact with women to prevent the risk of being accused as assailants. The relationship between male and female becomes really tense, and it does not seem helpful in improving gender equality. On the contrary, it has deepened the gap and misunderstanding between genders which could end up losing harmony of the society. Once men started to fear being accused of sexual misconduct, especially in workplaces, they may stop working with women and even stop hiring female employees, which does not help in promoting gender equality at work at all.
In Taiwan, a new hashtag, # 越想越不對勁 ,was invented in response to the backlash against #MeToo movement. The literal meaning of this hashtag is someone feels wrong after an incident, and the feeling lingers on. Originally, the phrase was common in news about sex crime that the female victim has not realized that it was sexual misconduct after a while. In the aftermath of the misconduct, the victim finally decides to sue the assailant and seek justice. However, incidents like this are too frequent and a lot of them were
eventually proven a trap for the accused assailants’ money. At last, # 越 想 越 不 對 勁 becomes a sarcasm to tease fake victims or females that are overly sensitive. Because of the rise of #MeToo movement, more and more females in Taiwan
stand up and speak out their stories related to sexual misconducts. Yet, there are too many fake incidents and people starts to doubt the integrity of each case. Consequently, the intention of #MeToo movement is twisted. The movement are facing a serious backlash and the effect seems to go to the opposite way.
Since 2017, #MeToo movement has spread globally and influenced millions of people. The intention of this campaign is positive and it did raise the public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment and assault. However, due to the large scale of the whole movement, there is a serious backlash that should never be ignored. To speak up against injustice is amazing, at the same time, it is vital to keep a balance between seeking justice and influence on society. In this sense, a greater good would more likely to be achieved.
Stopping Sexual Violence: Winners of Nobel Peace Prize 2018
by Nicole Liao
photo by Ken Opprann Denis Mukwege – Photo gallery. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Sun. 28 Apr 2019.
The Nobel Peace Prize, established in 1895, celebrates great people who work hard in promoting world peace. The most well- known winners of the prize include the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Barack Obama.
In 2018, there were 331 candidates competing for the prize, and two of them won the prize jointly: Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, for their “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
Interestingly, 2018 is the ten-year anniversary of the United Nations Security Council passing resolution 1820, which was regarded to using sexual violence as weapons during wars as a crime against humanity, and the winners of Nobel Peace Prize of this year are dedicated to the same field that devoted in stopping the use of sexual violence at war as a weapon. Denis Mukwege is a gynecologist in Congo
who helped victims of sexual violence. Dr. Mukwege’s father was a pastor who visited the ill in Bukavu, a city located in eastern Congo. When Dr. Mukwege was little, he often went to visit the patients with his father; however, he realized that the only thing a pastor could do for people suffering from illness was simply praying for them. Hence, Dr. Mukwege determined to become a doctor. “You can pray, but I will give medicines,” Dr. Mukwege said to his father when he was eight. Later on, he became a world-renowned gynecologist.
Dr. Mukwege started Panzi Hospital which had a maternity ward, about twenty years ago. In 1998, Congo Civil War broke out, destroying the hospital and many victims to sexual violence.
According to Dr. Mukwege, the war was driven by conflicts in economic interest and victim ized the innocent Congoles e women; DR Congo was even labeled “the
In 2018, there were 331 candidates competing for the prize, and two of them won the prize jointly: Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, for their “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
Interestingly, 2018 is the ten-year anniversary of the United Nations Security Council passing resolution 1820, which was regarded to using sexual violence as weapons during wars as a crime against humanity, and the winners of Nobel Peace Prize of this year are dedicated to the same field that devoted in stopping the use of sexual violence at war as a weapon. Denis Mukwege is a gynecologist in Congo
who helped victims of sexual violence. Dr. Mukwege’s father was a pastor who visited the ill in Bukavu, a city located in eastern Congo. When Dr. Mukwege was little, he often went to visit the patients with his father; however, he realized that the only thing a pastor could do for people suffering from illness was simply praying for them. Hence, Dr. Mukwege determined to become a doctor. “You can pray, but I will give medicines,” Dr. Mukwege said to his father when he was eight. Later on, he became a world-renowned gynecologist.
Dr. Mukwege started Panzi Hospital which had a maternity ward, about twenty years ago. In 1998, Congo Civil War broke out, destroying the hospital and many victims to sexual violence.
According to Dr. Mukwege, the war was driven by conflicts in economic interest and victim ized the innocent Congoles e women; DR Congo was even labeled “the
rape capital of the world” by a UN official.
During the wartime, sexual violence was used as a weapon and many women were raped and badly injured, and Dr. Mukwege chose to specialize in treating women who suffered from rape injuries during the war. Dr. Mukwege restarted the hospital, and it became a shelter for rape victims where Dr. Mukwege and his colleagues provided medical services for tens of thousands of patients so far. As more and more rape victims went to Panzi Hospital seeking help, Dr. Mukwege realized that it is not enough to simply treat the victims; he needed to raise the public awareness of this issue. Unfortunately, Dr. Mukwege’s hard work on stopping sexual violence backfired in 2012. After his criticism to the current government of "an unjust war that has used violence against women and rape as a strategy of war." Gunman broke into Dr. Mukwege' s house. They took Dr. Mukwege's daughter as hostage, and killed a person who is alleged to be Dr. Muckwege's friend and security guard. Although Dr. Mukwege's daughter was rescued safely eventually, it was apparent that Dr. Mukwege's hard work was posing a negative impact on him and people around him. Dr. Mukwege and his family were forced to move abroad to avoid this kind of tragedy from happening again, but this terrible event did not stop Dr. Mukwege fr om fig ht in g sexua l violence in w a r . To support and appreciate the hard work of Dr. Mukwege, Congolese women started a campaign, raising funds for flight tickets for Dr. Mukwege to come back to Congo in 2013. The campaign touched Dr. Mukwege deeply and he determined to fight even harder against sexual violence. Currently, Dr. Mukwege lives at the hospital under the protection of UN peacekeepers. The other w inner of 2018 Nobel Peace Prize is Nadia Murad, a human rights activist who survived sexual violence in war. |
Murad was born in a farming family in Iraq. She is a Yazidi, a religious minority targeted by the Islamic State. Yazidi do not have a sacred classics, consequently, the Islamic State is convinced that Yazidi do not believe in the same God as Muslims do. Hence, Yazidi becomes a target that the Islamic State intended to wipe out.
When Murad was 19, the Islamic State attacked her village and killed hundreds o f p e op le , in c lud ing M u r a d ’s fa mily . Younger women of the village were taken prisoners, and Murad was one of them. As a captive, Murad was treated as a sexual slave and she was often trafficked at a very low price, for example, once she was sold at only 20 US dollars. Murad remained captive for three months and she got a chance to escape. A Muslim family had helped Murad and they smuggled her to a refugee camp where the rest of Murad’s family lives. At the refugee camp, Murad was offered an opportunity to escape to Germany and she lives in Germany ever since. In December 2015, Murad visited the UN Security Council on the issue of human trafficking and she became the ambassador of the campaign that participated in raising public awareness of human trafficking. According to Murad, the UN and the US, indeed, were trying to help the refugees and victims of the attack by IS, however, their actions were not efficiently stopping the genocide. In 2016, Murad found Nadia’s Initiative that advocates for victims of sexual violence and communities torn apart from genocide. Nadia’s Initiative has two main projects: Sinjar Action Fund (SAF) and Survivors’ Action Response (SAR.) SAF was established with the prize money from Murad's Nobel Peace Prize, to help to rebuild communities in crisis such as the Yazidi. SAR, on the other hand, was a project helping rape victims seek justice either in a formal or informal way. In 2017, Murad published her memoir The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State and it shocked the world, raising the public awareness of the issues of human trafficking and sexual violence. In 2018, the Nobel Peace Prize went to two fighters devoting to stopping sexual violence at war, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. With their hard work, more and more people are aware of this serious issue happening .issues happening in places lacking proper aids such as the Middle East and central Africa. Hopefully, in the near future, the problem could be solved and justice would go to the victims. |
A Review on Press Freedom in Recent Years
by Renn Lin
photo by Bank Phrom on Unsplash
As the global politics evolves, there are rises and falls of powers in every corner of the world. In the political struggles, the role media plays has an important influence on the authorities. As a result, media are more and more of a concern to politically influential individuals, parties, and officials.
In the recent years, several incidents showed that the violation of press freedom from authorities has become not only a struggle between politics and press but between the authorities and the rights of the people. According to The Independent, 34 journalists were murdered in 2018, following a total of 18 murders in 2017, showing the harsh position journalists are in (Hall). These incidents happened not only in areas that are traditionally regarded as conservative or totalitarian but also in some democratic countries. This article aims to review some of the major incidents over the past few years to reaffirm the importance of press freedom. [Western Asia: Saudi Arabia]
Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist
who died on 19 October 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, was reported murdered. No parties or individuals claim responsibility for the conduct, but the CIA later reached the conclusion that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing.
Khashoggi, also being a resident of the US, used to write for the global opinion section of the Washington Post, criticising Saudi Arabian politics, but on the other hand he was an advisor to Saudi officials as well. In February this year, a minister of Saudi refused the probe proposed by the UN, declaring that
In the recent years, several incidents showed that the violation of press freedom from authorities has become not only a struggle between politics and press but between the authorities and the rights of the people. According to The Independent, 34 journalists were murdered in 2018, following a total of 18 murders in 2017, showing the harsh position journalists are in (Hall). These incidents happened not only in areas that are traditionally regarded as conservative or totalitarian but also in some democratic countries. This article aims to review some of the major incidents over the past few years to reaffirm the importance of press freedom. [Western Asia: Saudi Arabia]
Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist
who died on 19 October 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, was reported murdered. No parties or individuals claim responsibility for the conduct, but the CIA later reached the conclusion that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing.
Khashoggi, also being a resident of the US, used to write for the global opinion section of the Washington Post, criticising Saudi Arabian politics, but on the other hand he was an advisor to Saudi officials as well. In February this year, a minister of Saudi refused the probe proposed by the UN, declaring that
Saudi had the ability to investigate the case on its own. The Saudi official also denied the possible relation between the Crown Prince and the murder. [North Africa: Egypt]
Eight years after its Arab Spring movement, Egypt turned out to be one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Ranked 161 in Reporters Sans Frontières’ (Reporters Without Borders, RSF) 2018 World Press Freedom Index, in the same place as 2017, its global score dropped by 0.94 to 55.78 compared to last year. Abdel Fattah el- Sisi, the current president of Egypt, has great control over news media and political talk shows. It is reported that if the talk show hosts do not “legitimise his presidency and vilify his critics," they are very likely to lose their jobs (Kraidy). As to online news, the establishment of new sites
On 7 November 2018, during a press conference in the White House, a confrontation between the US president Donald Trump and a CNN reporter Jim Acosta was provoked. Trump refused to answer Acosta’s question about the “caravan” migrants and intended to halt the questioning, but Acosta refused to give away the microphone while a White House staffer tried to take it from his hand. Soon after the press conference, the reporter’s White House pass was revoked. The White House Press Secretary tweeted criticising the reporter for “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern,” which was an untrue assertion that can be judged referencing the video taken. CNN later filed a lawsuit against
Eight years after its Arab Spring movement, Egypt turned out to be one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Ranked 161 in Reporters Sans Frontières’ (Reporters Without Borders, RSF) 2018 World Press Freedom Index, in the same place as 2017, its global score dropped by 0.94 to 55.78 compared to last year. Abdel Fattah el- Sisi, the current president of Egypt, has great control over news media and political talk shows. It is reported that if the talk show hosts do not “legitimise his presidency and vilify his critics," they are very likely to lose their jobs (Kraidy). As to online news, the establishment of new sites
On 7 November 2018, during a press conference in the White House, a confrontation between the US president Donald Trump and a CNN reporter Jim Acosta was provoked. Trump refused to answer Acosta’s question about the “caravan” migrants and intended to halt the questioning, but Acosta refused to give away the microphone while a White House staffer tried to take it from his hand. Soon after the press conference, the reporter’s White House pass was revoked. The White House Press Secretary tweeted criticising the reporter for “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern,” which was an untrue assertion that can be judged referencing the video taken. CNN later filed a lawsuit against
is limited by the high registration fee, and collecting and sharing data of users is encouraged (Maziad). [Eastern Europe: Bulgaria]
The 30-year-old Bulgarian reporter Viktoria Marinova’s body was found in the north of Ruse on 6 October 2018, reported to have been raped and suffocated before death. The journalist was the third European reporter killed that year and the seventh in the years of 2017 and 2018. Although the suspect claimed that he was under effects of alcohol and drugs and did not rape or rob her, the journalist’s personal belongings were found in the suspect’s place.
The case does not seem to be directly related to the low ranking of Bulgaria in the RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, but the owner of an investigative website that includes Marinova’s reports received information about the possible danger for his journalists (Owoseje). Considering the report about a potential fraud related to EU funds published shortly before her death, many do not take the incident as merely an accident. [North America: The US]
the White House, demanding the reporter’s return to the White House. On 16 November, under a federal judge, ruled that the White House had to return the access to Jim Acosta.
In the press conference, Trump’s reaction and humiliating words violated an authorised reporter’s right to raise questions publicly. T h is in c id en t a g a in r a ise d t h e p u b lic ’s awareness of the confrontation between press freedom and national authority. Conclusion
From the reports we get to know that in this era, press freedom is constantly in all kinds of confrontations with national authority and dictatorships even in democratic countries. However, the media are the most important accesses people have to know and to be informed. Limited press freedom would eventually do harm to people’s freedom and rights. Standing up for press freedom is defending the people’s rights, and it takes every individual’s awareness and effort to keep these rights unviolated.
The 30-year-old Bulgarian reporter Viktoria Marinova’s body was found in the north of Ruse on 6 October 2018, reported to have been raped and suffocated before death. The journalist was the third European reporter killed that year and the seventh in the years of 2017 and 2018. Although the suspect claimed that he was under effects of alcohol and drugs and did not rape or rob her, the journalist’s personal belongings were found in the suspect’s place.
The case does not seem to be directly related to the low ranking of Bulgaria in the RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, but the owner of an investigative website that includes Marinova’s reports received information about the possible danger for his journalists (Owoseje). Considering the report about a potential fraud related to EU funds published shortly before her death, many do not take the incident as merely an accident. [North America: The US]
the White House, demanding the reporter’s return to the White House. On 16 November, under a federal judge, ruled that the White House had to return the access to Jim Acosta.
In the press conference, Trump’s reaction and humiliating words violated an authorised reporter’s right to raise questions publicly. T h is in c id en t a g a in r a ise d t h e p u b lic ’s awareness of the confrontation between press freedom and national authority. Conclusion
From the reports we get to know that in this era, press freedom is constantly in all kinds of confrontations with national authority and dictatorships even in democratic countries. However, the media are the most important accesses people have to know and to be informed. Limited press freedom would eventually do harm to people’s freedom and rights. Standing up for press freedom is defending the people’s rights, and it takes every individual’s awareness and effort to keep these rights unviolated.
Reducing Plastics: Sugarcane Straw and Plastic Straw Banning Policy
by Jess Chao
photo by Jess Chao
In June 2018, The Environmental Protec- tion Executive Yuan issued a policy banning plastic straws being offered to customers as a means to prevent marine species from mistaking plastic straws for food. It is also a way to prevent the tox- ic substances plastic straws release from coming into human body as an effect of food chain since plastic straws are the most common waste on beaches. The policy prohibits governmental and public institutes, private institutes, department stores, shopping malls, and fast food restau- rants from offering plastic straws to customers.
After the announcement, this policy has aroused some discussions, in particular those about how to drink the representative Taiwan- ese drink—tapioca tea—without a straw. In response, The Environmental Protection Exec-
utive Yuan clarified few days later that, except plastic straws, other kinds of straws are not restricted. As a result, in search of an alterna- tive straw that would not harm the environ- ment sugarcane straw catches the attention.
Sugarcane straw is invented by 100% Zhi
(100% 植 ), a branch under Ju-Tian Eco-material Corporation focusing on the recycling of agri-
After the announcement, this policy has aroused some discussions, in particular those about how to drink the representative Taiwan- ese drink—tapioca tea—without a straw. In response, The Environmental Protection Exec-
utive Yuan clarified few days later that, except plastic straws, other kinds of straws are not restricted. As a result, in search of an alterna- tive straw that would not harm the environ- ment sugarcane straw catches the attention.
Sugarcane straw is invented by 100% Zhi
(100% 植 ), a branch under Ju-Tian Eco-material Corporation focusing on the recycling of agri-
cultural wastes and the development of plant-fi- ber reuse technology in Taiwan. In May 2018, the team launched the sugarcane straw which caught the eye of Taiwanese when the policy of plastic straw banning was announced in June. The invention not merely grabbed the at-
tention in Taiwan but was awarded a special jury gold medal at the Concours Lepine, a French in- vention affair in Montpellier, France, in October for its impact on circular economy and environmental protection. The team was furthermore invited to several exhibitions and summits that emphasized environmental protection issues, such as Change- Now 2018 and Pollutec 2018. While ocean and air pollution is aggravating and fossil fuel resources are diminishing around the world, the invention of sugarcane straw and the team’s contribution to en- vironmental protection, reuse of agricultural wastes and circular economy should not be neglected. However, if we look into the raw mate-
rials that are used to produce sugarcane straws
ically controlled condition: first of all, it needs heat over than 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) to biodegrade. Similarly, if the air is not humid enough, PLA will not biodegrade, ei- ther. When it does not biodegrade, it will just en- dure for years as other conventional plastics do.
So far, there is no clear recycling system set up to collect PLA-made products in Taiwan. PLA wastes could only be thrown into incin- erators like most trash. Being incinerated, PLA products lose their biodegradable characteristic and are not able to be composted in earth, thus contradict the meaning of circular economy. Moreover, even though PLA does not re-
lease toxic substances while being burned, the fact is that not all PLA-made products end up in the incinerators. Since PLA-made products and conventional plastic products are similar in appearance, most people do not know how to tell a PLA-made product from a plastic product and thus keep throwing all types of plastics alto-
and examine the process and condition these materials take to dissolve, we may find sug- arcane straw not really a perfect substitute for plastic straws in terms of environmen- tal sustainabilitys we might originally think. Two main materials included in a sug-
arcane straw, according to the website of 100% Zhi, are the agricultural wastes of sugarcane and PLA, polylactic acid. PLA is a kind of bio-plastics extracted from vegetable starch such as corn, yam or potato starch and is produced through the process of fermentation, dehydration, and purification. It has been widely used in making cold-drink cups and disposable utensils. As it is made by agricultural wastes instead of the ex- tract of fossil fuels, it creates a smaller carbon footprint and, because of its components, PLA does not release toxic substances while be- ing incinerated, which is an obvious difference between PLA and the conventional plastics. To biodegrade, PLA requires a specif-
gether in the recycling bins. Once PLA is mixed with other plastics, it will disturb the recycling process and make other plastics unable to be remolded into new products. As a result, there is still room to debate whether or not PLA-made sugarcane straws can supplant plastic straws thor- oughly to make a complete zero-waste society. The invention of sugarcane straws is a huge improvement made in the field of environmental protection and the team’s efforts certainly cannot be ignored. However, there are still no govern- mental strategies to set up suitable landfills and promote a complete recycling system to have PLA-made products biodegrade properly. Rather than simply waiting there for the government to come out with a policy to recycle PLA, we consum- ers should take to bringing our own reusable stuff, like glass straws for instance, and avoiding sin- gle-use items to reduce the trash we produce each day to make our environment less contaminated.
How Your Internet Habit Harms Nature
by Nicole Liao
photos from Pixaby
What do you usually do when you are free? Most people take out their smartphone, go on to any kind of social media, and browse through everything that catches their eyes and probably give it a like. Images of nature, including scenery and animals, are always a popular cate- gory. Nowadays, smartphones are wide spread, which enables people to take pictures and share them with others with ease. With the quick de- velopment of social media, sharing photos be- come easier than ever, and the fastest way to gain popularity is to use the effect of reposting. When the demand for images of nature in- creases, more and more people head for nature to satisfy the demand. On one hand, those imag- es boost people’s interest in nature and perhaps raises the awareness of environmental issues. On the other hand, the increasing interferes in nature may actually be harmful to the environ- ment and endangers the wildlife people love. Java, Indonesia, was a paradise that pos-
sesses a spectacular natural beach and crys- tal-clear ocean. Once Java was promoted as a vacation resort, tons of tourists went to the island for a tropical getaway. The tourists gave a boost to the local economy but left tons of trash. The place severe polluted and there is garbage all over the sea that the surfers need to surf with. It sounds ridiculous, but it is exact- ly how human interest harms the environment. Taiwan, the island we live on, has not es- caped the fate of environmental damage caused by human activity promoted on social media. In 2011, You Are the Apple of My Eye, a successful local film, was released. The sky lantern scene in the movie was so influential that people started to imitate the film and go to Pingxi for sky lantern releasing. People were posting photos of going on a sky lantern release, which triggered more and more people to desire the activity. For most people, it may be just a fun activity; however, the increasing sky lanterns were actually damaging the environment and even harming wild animals.
sesses a spectacular natural beach and crys- tal-clear ocean. Once Java was promoted as a vacation resort, tons of tourists went to the island for a tropical getaway. The tourists gave a boost to the local economy but left tons of trash. The place severe polluted and there is garbage all over the sea that the surfers need to surf with. It sounds ridiculous, but it is exact- ly how human interest harms the environment. Taiwan, the island we live on, has not es- caped the fate of environmental damage caused by human activity promoted on social media. In 2011, You Are the Apple of My Eye, a successful local film, was released. The sky lantern scene in the movie was so influential that people started to imitate the film and go to Pingxi for sky lantern releasing. People were posting photos of going on a sky lantern release, which triggered more and more people to desire the activity. For most people, it may be just a fun activity; however, the increasing sky lanterns were actually damaging the environment and even harming wild animals.
The most obvious impacts are that sky lanterns frequently cause wildfires, and the remains of sky lanterns turn out to be trash that polluted nature. Furthermore, sky lantern activities are mostly taking place at night, and the lights may influence nocturnal animals that are sensitive to light and cause confusion of those animals, con- sequently, having a negative impact on their lives.
The environment is not the only victim; a lot of wild animals are endangered due to human interest in them. For example, the red panda. The red panda, living in the forests in the Himalayas, is super popular online because of its cute look. It is an endangered species that there are only about 10,000 individuals left. With its high popu- larity online, more and more people have noticed red pandas. On one hand, people become more aware of the predicament red pandas are fac- ing. On the other hand, people are attracted by the cute animal and start to want to keep them as pets. Once the demand exists, there must be supply. In this case, smugglers capture wild red
pandas and sell them to the black market, which is immoral but has high profits. Red pandas are not protected, instead, their lives are severely in- terfered and even their lives are threatened. It is ironic that human admiration for red pandas ends up threatening their lives, but it is a real problem. People’s interest in nature often ends up damaging nature, either harming the environment or endangering the wildlife. Especially after social media going viral, the impact becomes even more severe. This is not suggesting that we should stop going online and appreciate lovely pictures; there is nothing wrong with doing so, but we have to pay attention to the consequence. Do not try to keep animals as pets every time you watch an amusing animal video, and do not go to places that are reserved for natural protection causes. When seeing nice photos online, do not try to in- timat it without thinking twice and make sure it is not harmful to any being on the planet. In that way, we can always have wonderful pictures to appre- ciate and the environment would not be harmed.
The environment is not the only victim; a lot of wild animals are endangered due to human interest in them. For example, the red panda. The red panda, living in the forests in the Himalayas, is super popular online because of its cute look. It is an endangered species that there are only about 10,000 individuals left. With its high popu- larity online, more and more people have noticed red pandas. On one hand, people become more aware of the predicament red pandas are fac- ing. On the other hand, people are attracted by the cute animal and start to want to keep them as pets. Once the demand exists, there must be supply. In this case, smugglers capture wild red
pandas and sell them to the black market, which is immoral but has high profits. Red pandas are not protected, instead, their lives are severely in- terfered and even their lives are threatened. It is ironic that human admiration for red pandas ends up threatening their lives, but it is a real problem. People’s interest in nature often ends up damaging nature, either harming the environment or endangering the wildlife. Especially after social media going viral, the impact becomes even more severe. This is not suggesting that we should stop going online and appreciate lovely pictures; there is nothing wrong with doing so, but we have to pay attention to the consequence. Do not try to keep animals as pets every time you watch an amusing animal video, and do not go to places that are reserved for natural protection causes. When seeing nice photos online, do not try to in- timat it without thinking twice and make sure it is not harmful to any being on the planet. In that way, we can always have wonderful pictures to appre- ciate and the environment would not be harmed.