Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called for more to be done about revenge porn.
Amendments to the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act (性侵害犯罪防治法) are needed, so that victims are better protected, more severe punishments can be handed out and intimate videos filmed without consent are deleted, DPP legislators Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘), Mark Ho (何志偉), Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) and Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Kao has accused her then-boyfriend Raphael Lin (林秉樞) of assaulting her on Nov. 11 and locking her up for two days in a hotel room. He allegedly threatened to leak intimate videos and photographs of her if she did not stay in a relationship with him. The case is being investigated.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The lawmakers also spoke about other prominent cases in the past few years, including that of Taiwanese YouTuber Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸), who was arrested in October for allegedly selling deepfake porn videos featuring more than 100 politicians and influencers.
Kao pointed out several weak spots in the legal system.
The destruction of evidence is only required for offenses that involve a violation of personal privacy or obscene content, while other types of intimate videos or photos taken without consent are not taken into account, she said.
“As for the regulation of obscene materials, media platforms are only required to self-regulate and no actual punishments are stipulated,” she said, adding that this needs to be addressed.
The law needs to offer better protection for victims, and counseling should be provided, she added.
The lawmakers said the act needs to include provisions on revenge porn and deepfake porn, and abusive partner provisions should be added to deal with cases that involve violence, intimidation or sexual exploitation.
A provision should also be added requiring the deletion of sexual content when the victim makes such a request, and the penalty for failing to do so should be clearly stipulated, they said.
“We all felt very sad for Kao regarding her case. It is most important to patch up [legal] loopholes and prevent such offenses from happening,” Hsu said.
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