The justice system has been slow in investigating pornography Web sites that allegedly contain videos of people filmed without their consent, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) said yesterday.
Paid membership pornography Web sites operated by Yu Chi-hao (余啟豪) contain videos of people secretly filmed in sex acts, a man using the alias “W” told a news conference Ho held at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Prosecutors last month indicted Yu for contravening the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童級少年性剝削防治條例) among other offenses.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
W said that he was seeking justice for a female friend who had been a victim in the case.
More than 1,000 people have had videos of them uploaded to the sites, where the names and personal information of hundreds of people have been posted, Ho said, adding that the case was Taiwan’s version of South Korea’s “Nth Room.”
In November last year, a Seoul court sentenced Cho Ju-bin to 40 years in prison for operating a criminal ring to profit from producing and selling abusive videos on the Telegram messaging service, Yonhap news agency reported.
Victims in Yu’s case are mostly women, some of whom are students or underage, Ho said.
The videos were allegedly filmed in private or public places, including restrooms at train stations, Taipei MRT stations, university dormitories, gyms and office buildings, he said, adding that an investigation last year found that the Web sites had more than 40,000 members.
“Several victims had filed judicial complaints seeking an investigation by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, but it has been half a year and we have not seen much effort from prosecutors,” W said, adding that in December last year, Yu was detained briefly by police for questioning and was later released.
“The justice system ignored the victims all this time. It had no concern for the physical and emotional toll suffered by these victims, and the violation of their personal rights,” W said.
Yu has posted messages online saying he has obtained Hong Kong and UK citizenship, and would move abroad, W said.
“We demand Taipei prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice provide an explanation [for the slow movement] in pursuing the case, and how to safeguard victims whose privacy and personal rights have been violated,” he said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a