With artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content becoming popular globally, AI-generated digital photo albums with child pornography content have allegedly been found on the largest online e-commerce platform in Taiwan, prompting academics and civic groups to urge the sellers to remove the illegal content.
Several AI-generated pornographic digital photo albums were allegedly found being sold on Shopee (樂購蝦皮), an e-commerce platform, and some of these albums included keywords such as “little girl” or “junior-high school student” on the title, and AI-generated and pixelated images of naked underage girls.
One of the alleged AI-generated pornographic album sellers, based in Chiayi City, sells more than 100 uncensored full nudity photos with the product details section saying: “Japanese-style junior-high school students.”
Photo: Screen grab from Shopee’s Web site
Although the seller stated that the products contained “fictional characters, all aged 18 years or older,” they might still be considered illegal.
National Chung Hsing University Department of Law professor Bernard Kao (高玉泉) yesterday said that body shapes of the virtual models in images do not look like they are 18 or older, so even if the seller claims the models are above 18, the legality of the products depends on objective judgement.
End Children Prostitution, ECPAT Taiwan secretary-general Chen I-ling (陳逸玲) said that non-realistic images containing sexual abuse of children are regulated by the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒少性剝削防制條例) domestically, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child globally, which means the sellers should remove the content.
Such fictional content should not be allowed under any circumstances, as it might promote and rationalize pedophilia, she said.
Chen and Kao said fictional sexual exploitation of children would encourage exploitation in real life, as there have been cases in other countries in which offenders used fictional pornograpy to force children to imitate the behaviors.
Chen said as AI technology advances, the line between manufactured content and reality becomes more ambiguous, but child pornography, no matter AI-generated or not, should all be removed from access.
In addition to law enforcement by the government, the sellers should also take the initiative and remove the illegal content, Chen said, adding that if the content is on a foreign Web site, the local authority with the jurisdiction should be requested to ban the Web site.
Kao said that fictional child pornography should also be regulated, or else offenders might intentionally make child pornography look less real and defend themselves by saying: “Unless you can find the real victim, you cannot prove it is a real image.”
Ministry of Health and Welfare Department of Protective Services Director-General Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) yesterday said that even AI-generated content can encourage sexual exploitation of children, and according to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act, offenders can face up to seven years of imprisonment or a fine of up to NT$5 million (US$154,952).
According to Article 2 of the act, “filming, producing, distributing, broadcasting, delivering, publicly displaying, or selling any sexual image or video of a child, or any drawing, audio recording, or other item of a child that is sexualized” are considered sexual exploitation of a child.
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