Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) and independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) yesterday called for more severe punishment for people convicted of producing “deepfake” pornographic videos.
Kao and Huang are two of the victims in an ongoing investigation into a “deepfake video” case, in which YouTuber Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸), 26, also known as Xiaoyu (小玉), was last week listed as a suspect for allegedly using deepfake technology to create and sell sexual videos featuring the likenesses of female politicians, online influencers and celebrities.
Deepfake pornography is made by superimposing facial images of people onto existing pornographic videos using deep learning technology, a type of artificial intelligence.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“This is a very serious case of producing porn videos for profit and promoting sexual violence against women in the digital landscape. This could also undermine national security,” Kao told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
She denounced Chu’s action, who, along with two other suspects, allegedly made about NT$11 million (US$394,605) from selling deepfake videos.
“Public figures should not be humiliated in such ways,” Huang said.
“While viewing it, I got very angry at first, then felt very disgusted, and nauseated, and almost threw up,” she said. “It is a sexual assault on women. We hope all victims will have courage to sue the offenders and punish them through the courts.”
Lawmakers must amend related laws to stop deepfake videos, as they could become tools for revenge porn, she said.
“It could undermine national security,” she added. “Taiwan is a democratic society, and malevolent forces could use deepfake technology to circulate fake videos during election campaigns to manipulate the vote.”
Kao and Huang said that Taiwanese lawmakers should learn from the US, South Korea and other countries and enact a “revenge porn act” that would mete out more severe punishments on producers of deepfake porn.
They also called on the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies to focus on the issue and come up with proposals to amend the law.
Ministry official Chi Chih-kuang (紀志光) told the news conference that the case was a reflection of the rapid developments in information technology and exposed how the expense of engaging in such crimes has fallen, further encouraging sexual violence and breaches of privacy rights.
The ministry is looking at regulations, examples and experiences from other countries relating to deepfake exploitation, and will hold discussions with professionals in the field to propose amendments as soon as possible, Chi said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan and CNA
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
RSS