The Cabinet supports investigating a deepfake video of a legislative candidate spread online as an attempt at election interference, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) on Tuesday last week said he was a victim of a deepfake video being circulated online that featured his likeness in a sex act, and reported the incident to the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau.
He said the video was part of a Chinese attempt to influence Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, in which he is seeking re-election.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The bureau on Monday said it would not release the results of its initial review of the video, as it does not disclose information on ongoing investigations.
During an extraordinary session at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) asked when the inspection results would be published.
The Executive Yuan hopes that investigators would find out the truth about the video as soon as possible, Chen said, adding that the Cabinet respects judicial independence.
Tseng said the government would be intervening in the elections if it did not publish the results of an investigation, an assertion Chen said he disagreed with, as investigations should be discreet.
KMT Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) called for the results to be published.
“How could the case be proved to be an act of election intervention by China, as claimed by DPP presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), if the results are not published?” Lee said.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) and Prosecutor-General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) have asked the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to “clarify, remove or trace the source” when disinformation emerges, he said.
Lo yesterday said the case was a new model for crimes carried out delicately, adding that “we must not let China’s cyberarmy have its way” in interfering in the elections.
He asked national security agencies to investigate election interference, which might involve China’s state-run media, pro-unification media and politicians from the pan-blue camp.
Additional reporting by Weng Yu-huang
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