Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) yesterday said she will push to amend the law to increase the penalties and fines for posting “revenge porn” online — uploading photographs or film clips to the Internet of another individual, without their consent, to seek revenge or to damage their reputation.
Recent court rulings in cases concerning the dissemination of personal pictures resulted in sentences of up to six months imprisonment, which could be converted to fines of up to NT$180,000, and that is too light, Wu said at a press conference in Taipei she held with representatives from the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation.
The planned amendments would seek to differentiate between the simple dissemination of photos and someone violating public decency (公然猥褻罪), with the latter receiving a far heavier penalty, rather than having one catch-all category, Wu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Differentiating between the offenses would give judges more leeway in sentencing, as well as offer better protection [for witnesses] during investigations, she said.
She said there was still some debate on whether the proposed changes should be submitted for legislative review as amendments to the Criminal Code or as entirely new legislation.
A meeting is planned for March 8 to explain the proposed amendments to the public, the lawmaker said.
Foundation director-general Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) and attorney Wu Hsiu-e (吳秀娥) said they found it shocking that 57.5 percent of respondents to a foundation poll have consented to being filmed during sex while they were in a relationship, either as a short clip or a longer video.
There have been more than 66 cases in the past two years where former boyfriends have posted intimate photographs or sexual videos involving their former partners and more than 95.4 percent of the victims were female, Kang said.
She said 51.2 percent of the perpetrators in these cases had used photos or videos to threaten their former partner in a bid to get back together, while 28.8 percent had just been seeking revenge and to damage the reputation of the victim, Kang said.
The victims were often asked for sex or money, Kang said.
Wu said that if an individual is threatened by another using personal photos or film clips they can file a lawsuit on charges of intimidation.
Even if the victim consented to being photographed or filmed at the time, another individual does not have a right to disseminate the photos or film clips, and if they do so they could be charged with disseminating indecent materials, Wu said.
If the photos or film clips were taken without the victim’s consent, the individual using them could be charged with violating the privacy of others, she added.
Wu urged the public to report such offenses to police, adding that if a victim feels the police are not aggressively pursuing the case, they can appeal directly to a district prosecutors’ office if they have proof that they are being or have been threatened.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS