Women’s rights groups and legal experts yesterday urged the government to fix loopholes in its proposed amendments to the Criminal Code and other regulations designed to punish those who produce or spread sexual material of a person without their consent.
In March, the Executive Yuan approved proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), Crime Victim Protection Act (犯罪被害人權益保障法) and Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act (性侵害犯罪防治法) to curb the unauthorized creation and dissemination of intimate sexual images of individuals.
The amendments were drafted after a YouTuber was arrested on suspicion of selling deepfake pornographic videos featuring more than 100 public figures and the “Nth Room” case in South Korea, in which a person spread sexually exploitative content using the Telegram app from 2018 to 2020.
Photo: Liu Hsin-te, Taipei Times
Representatives from the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Garden of Hope Foundation, ECPAT Taiwan and the Women in Digital Initiative yesterday hosted a news conference to address problems with the proposed amendments.
The amendments fail to cover a broad range of crimes, leaving some victims unprotected, they said, adding that there is no mechanism to immediately remove illegally disseminated material from the Internet.
The government does not have jurisdiction over content that has already been published on online platforms based overseas, they added.
The representatives proposed their own version of the amendments, which would require illegally disseminated content of an intimate nature to be taken down within 24 hours.
The district court could issue a restraining order asking perpetrators to submit, delete, destroy or remove the content, they said.
Representatives proposed that perpetrators who intend to frighten victims by threatening to disseminate intimate content through digital or non-digital means be sentenced to six months to three years in prison and fined no more than NT$30,000.
Perpetrators should be sentenced to six months to five years in prison for using sexual content to demand reconciliation or sexual favors, or to impede victims from exercising their rights, they said.
Those who blackmail victims for monetary gain should face jail time of six months to seven years, and a NT$50,000 fine, they said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kao Chia-yu(高嘉瑜), a survivor of domestic violence, said that intimate photos taken by her ex-boyfriend with her consent were later used to threaten her, even though they were not disseminated.
However, the government’s proposed amendments fail to take this situation into account, she said.
She said that although her case involved online gender-based violence, perpetrators of similar crimes can only be sentenced to no more than two years in prison for committing a crime of intimidation.
Removal of online material is only enforced in cases involving offenses against privacy or the distribution of obscene material, Kao said.
The Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act does not address online gender-based violence, and the government has yet to consolidate opinions on the protective measures and counseling available to victims, she said.
“I am willing to exchange views with civic groups to address the current regulations’ shortfalls,” she said.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said that political party caucuses are in the final stages of negotiating the bills.
“We hope that the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan can work together and ensure that the amendments are well-rounded,” she said.
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