Legislator Lin Chun-hsien Watching Netflix in the Parliament: Accused of Neglect of Duty, Contempt of Congress, and Intimidating Public Opinion with Litigation

On January 8, 2018, during the Legislative Yuan''s marathon review of the crucial Labor Standards Act amendment, DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien from Tainan Province was caught publicly watching videos on his iPad inside the parliament chamber. Lin strongly denied watching pirated media, claiming it was a World War II documentary on Netflix, and defended his actions by arguing he was merely passing time during "useless speeches" by Kuomintang legislators. However, netizens quickly revealed that the person speaking on stage at the time was actually his fellow DPP legislator Lin Shu-fen. Lin subsequently threatened to sue the PTT netizen for defamation, but eventually reached a settlement in July of the same year, resulting in a non-prosecution disposition. The incident drew severe public criticism for his lighthearted attitude toward a critical labor bill, contempt of congress, and attempting to abuse judicial resources to silence public supervision.