Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) yesterday said she will push to amend the law to increase the penalties and fines for posting “revenge porn” online — uploading photographs or film clips to the Internet of another individual, without their consent, to seek revenge or to damage their reputation.
Recent court rulings in cases concerning the dissemination of personal pictures resulted in sentences of up to six months imprisonment, which could be converted to fines of up to NT$180,000, and that is too light, Wu said at a press conference in Taipei she held with representatives from the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation.
The planned amendments would seek to differentiate between the simple dissemination of photos and someone violating public decency (公然猥褻罪), with the latter receiving a far heavier penalty, rather than having one catch-all category, Wu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Differentiating between the offenses would give judges more leeway in sentencing, as well as offer better protection [for witnesses] during investigations, she said.
She said there was still some debate on whether the proposed changes should be submitted for legislative review as amendments to the Criminal Code or as entirely new legislation.
A meeting is planned for March 8 to explain the proposed amendments to the public, the lawmaker said.
Foundation director-general Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) and attorney Wu Hsiu-e (吳秀娥) said they found it shocking that 57.5 percent of respondents to a foundation poll have consented to being filmed during sex while they were in a relationship, either as a short clip or a longer video.
There have been more than 66 cases in the past two years where former boyfriends have posted intimate photographs or sexual videos involving their former partners and more than 95.4 percent of the victims were female, Kang said.
She said 51.2 percent of the perpetrators in these cases had used photos or videos to threaten their former partner in a bid to get back together, while 28.8 percent had just been seeking revenge and to damage the reputation of the victim, Kang said.
The victims were often asked for sex or money, Kang said.
Wu said that if an individual is threatened by another using personal photos or film clips they can file a lawsuit on charges of intimidation.
Even if the victim consented to being photographed or filmed at the time, another individual does not have a right to disseminate the photos or film clips, and if they do so they could be charged with disseminating indecent materials, Wu said.
If the photos or film clips were taken without the victim’s consent, the individual using them could be charged with violating the privacy of others, she added.
Wu urged the public to report such offenses to police, adding that if a victim feels the police are not aggressively pursuing the case, they can appeal directly to a district prosecutors’ office if they have proof that they are being or have been threatened.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
RSS