The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved draft amendments to curb the creation of “deepfake” pornography, and make the production and distribution of fake or manipulated images and video for profit a crime punishable by up to seven years in jail.
The proposals include an article directly addressing the practice of using machine learning or other means to insert the likeness of a person into existing videos or images.
The drafts were proposed after the arrest of a Taiwanese YouTuber suspected of creating and selling deepfake pornographic videos featuring more than 100 public figures and the “Nth Room” case in South Korea, in which a person spread sexually exploitive content through the Telegram app from 2018 to 2020.
Photo: CNA
The proposed legislation would add a provision to the Criminal Code making the production of sexual material of a person without their consent subject to a maximum prison sentence of three years, while the unauthorized distribution of such material could result in jail terms from six months to five years.
Anyone convicted of using threats or violence to coerce someone into creating or participating in sexual content would face up to five years in prison, and those distributing such content face one to seven years in jail.
Under the drafts, the punishments could be increased by one-and-a-half times for distributing such content for profit.
The production or dissemination of deepfakes is punishable by a jail term of up to five years, and up to seven years if the offense is profit-related, the proposals showed.
An amendment to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例) would raise the punishment for filming an underage person engaging in sexual intercourse or obscene acts, or producing material that show such acts through recruitment or other means, from three to seven years in prison to up to 10 years.
The proposal would raise the sentence for anyone who distributes material depicting an underage person engaging in sexual intercourse or obscene acts from no more than three years to one to seven years.
Anyone who possesses sexually explicit images or video of an underage person, with no reasonable explanation, would face up to one year in prison.
Internet service providers should have a mechanism in place to immediately remove illegal images and video, the drafts say.
They would also be required to maintain an online database of crimes and criminals as well as the personal data and records of suspected criminals for up to 180 days. Failure to do so would result in a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000.
The proposed legislation also prohibits media from identifying victims of sexual violence, with fines of NT$60,000 to NT$600,000 for contraveners.
The draft amendments are to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review.
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