The legislature yesterday passed draft amendments to curb the use of sexual images and video that would make the production and spread of fake or manipulated images and video for profit a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The draft amendments to the Criminal Code include an additional article dedicated to a new form of crime using artificial intelligence — deepfakes — which involve inserting the likeness of a person into an existing image or video.
The draft amendments were proposed after the arrest in 2021 of a Taiwanese YouTuber for making and selling “deepfake” pornographic videos of dozens of prominent women, including politicians.
Photo: CNA
The approved legislation includes a provision stipulating that producing sexual material involving images or video footage of another individual without that person’s consent is subject to a maximum sentence of three years in prison, while the unauthorized distribution of such material could result in a prison term of six months to five years.
Anyone found guilty of distributing such content for profit faces an additional sentence of up to one half of the prescribed sentence, the amendment states.
The bill also includes a provision that anyone convicted of producing sexual images or video of another individual through the use of threats or violence faces up to five years in prison and one to seven years if distribution is involved.
Photo: CNA
Without the consent of the party involved, those who reproduce, distribute, broadcast, deliver, display or use other methods to display sexual images of others would be subject to a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to NT$500,000 (US$16,289).
The draft also stipulates that those who produce or disseminate deepfakes face a sentence of up to five years in jail and, if the offense is profit-related, up to seven years.
Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) said the passing of the law is the “best New Year’s gift” to victims of sexual exploitation, and thanked lawmakers for making it happen.
The law could be improved with regard to curbing “digital sexual violence,” including by creating mechanisms to immediately remove illegal images and video from Internet platforms, she added.
Lawmakers also passed a third reading of amendments to the Crime Victim Protection Act (犯罪被害人權益保障法).
The amendments expand the protections offered to victims of new forms of crime, including revenge porn and secretly filmed sexual content.
The changes authorize judicial authorities to impose restraining orders against suspects for up to two years during the trial period.
Compensation for next of kin in manslaughter or murder cases would be set at NT$1.8 million, while victims of crimes resulting in severe injuries would receive NT$800,000 to NT$1.6 million, and victims of sexual assault would receive NT$100,000 to NT$400,000.
New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said that “this amendment has … expanded the social safety net for victims of crime, including more programs to better protect the victims.”
“However, government agencies must allocate consistent, long-term funding. If not, these are merely administrative orders, without actual legal enforcement,” she said, adding that the current funding is insufficient.
Groups protested outside the Legislative Yuan, including representatives from the Association for Victims Support, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and the Taiwan Children’s Rights Association.
Taiwan Children’s Rights Association founder Wang Wei-chun (王薇君) said that the changes do not go far enough.
“I especially cannot accept that lawmakers imposed a cap on the compensation for [murder] at NT$1.8 million. This is not sufficient for many families experiencing economic hardship,” she said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
COMMITMENT: The world’s biggest contract chipmaker said that its new 2nm chips, as well as next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4nm chips, will be produced in Taiwan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that the majority of its most advanced chips would continue to be manufactured in Taiwan and that it is boosting advanced chip packaging capacity to catch up with fast-growing demand driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT. Deeply rooted in Taiwan, TSMC is expanding production capacity for its most advanced 3-nanometer (nm) chips at its Tainan fab and is building new plants to produce new 2-nanometer chips in Hsinchu and Taichung in 2025. The chipmaker also plans to produce next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4-nanometer chips, which are currently under development, at home, it
Former US president Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former US president to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw. The US Department of Justice was expected to make public a seven-count indictment ahead of a historic court appearance next week amid a presidential campaign punctuated by criminal prosecutions in multiple states. The indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if Trump is convicted. It also has enormous political implications, potentially upending a Republican presidential primary that Trump
PASSAGE DISPUTE: A US and Canadian transit was a provocation and an attempt to ‘exercise hegemony of navigation,’ China’s defense ministry told a forum in Singapore The Ministry of National Defense yesterday urged the Chinese Communist Party to avoid provocative behavior after a Chinese navy ship crossed the paths of a US destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait. A Chinese ship on Saturday “executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of [the USS] Chung-Hoon,” an American destroyer, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. The vessel “overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards [137m]. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 [knots, 18.5kph] to avoid a collision,” the statement said. It then “crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time
HARD-WON FREEDOM: Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on protesters has not been and should not be forgotten, as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, Lai said Taiwanese enjoy democracy and freedom and have multiple ways to express their creativity, and hopefully young people in China would also one day have the freedom to sing and express themselves, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s bloody crackdown on student-led protests in Beijing in 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident. Tsai posted a photograph taken in March in a subway station in Guizhou, China, where hundreds of young people gathered to sing People With No Ideals Don’t Get Hurt (沒有理想的人不傷心), saying that they
RSS