Xiaoyu deepfake pornography

Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸), 26, aka 'Xiaoyu', and his assistant, Chuang Hsin-jui (莊炘睿), have been arrested for creating, selling and distributing over 100 porn videos of Taiwanese celebrities and politicians.

According to Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, the three made over NT$13 million in a past year by superimposing peoples' faces without their consent on to existing pornographic videos using deepfake technology.

In addition to selling deepfakes of public figures on a series of Telegram groups, Chu is said to have accepted commissions to make deepfake videos of lesser-known individuals as a form of 'revenge porn.'

Legal proceedings

In July 2022, Chu and Chuang were sentenced to five years and six months and three years and eight months in prison respectively for violations of Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act. The sentences were commutable to fines.

Another 21 victims filed civil lawsuits seeking financial compensation from Chu and Chuang for misuse of their likenesses.

Taiwan deepfake legislation

Politician Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), also a victim, subsequently proposed to legislate deepfakes in Taiwan's national legislature via a bill that would make the production and spread of fake or manipulated images and video for profit a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The amendments to the Criminal Code include an additional article dedicated to a new form of crime using artificial intelligence — deepfakes — which involve inserting the likeness of a person into an existing image or video.

The bill passed in January 2023.