Sat, Dec 30, 2023 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  CRIME

  Porn deepfaker sentenced

  The creator of nonconsensual deepfake pornography featuring the likenesses of 119 people was handed a five-year custodial sentence by the High Court on Thursday. YouTuber Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸) in July last year was found guilty of contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) for using peoples’ likenesses in pornographic videos, including Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) and social media influencer Ili Cheng (鄭家純). Chu, along with his assistant Chuang Hsin-jui (莊炘睿), allegedly earned more than NT$13 million (US$422,971), court documents showed. Prosecutors appealed the New Taipei District Court’s decision to allow Chu, known on social media as Xiaoyu (小玉), to pay a fine, arguing that his sentence was too lenient. Thursday’s decision means Chu’s five-year sentence cannot be commuted to a fine, pending appeal. Chu might also need to serve 20 additional months if he is unable to pay a fine after the High Court imposed sentencing enhancements. The High Court increased Chuang’s sentence to four-and-a-half years from three years and eight months, commutable to a fine. Chuang’s sentence can also be appealed.

  FOOD

  FDA unveils pesticide data

  Sixty-eight samples of fresh fruits and vegetables failed pesticide residue testing in September and October, while nearly 91 percent of goods were deemed acceptable, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday. Of the 754 tested domestic and imported agricultural products, 686 passed and 68 were deemed substandard, the agency said. FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) told reporters that the producers responsible for 11 of the substandard products were fined a combined NT$360,000 as stipulated by the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), while 37 domestic products were handed over to agricultural agencies, as the Agro-pesticides Management Act (農藥管理法) stipulates. The other 20 products were still being assessed, Lin said. Some of the products were from hotels and supermarkets, including chili from the Hotel Fleur de Chine in Nantou County, in which 0.7 parts per million of imidacloprid was detected, as well as organic burdock and grapefruit from Taoyuan’s Far Eastern A.Mart, which contained chlorpyrifos, a banned pesticide, the FDA said. In 2020, 90.2 percent of goods passed, 91.6 percent passed in 2021 and 92.2 percent passed last year, Lin said, adding that there was no significant change in this year’s data. However, the public should remain careful when buying seasonal produce, he added.

  SOCIETY

  Finger’s owner sought

  Police in Taitung are trying to identify and contact a woman who apparently severed part of a finger in a motorcycle crash on Wednesday. Fongrong Neighborhood (豐榮) Chief Shih Hao-hsuan (施皓軒) said the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when a woman crashed her motorcycle on Hanyang N Road, and then got up and drove off. Bystanders who checked on her said that after she left, they found a severed finger on the ground, whereupon they contacted him, Shih wrote on Facebook. Shih said he immediately contacted the police and fire departments, which notified the Taitung Public Health Bureau to report the missing finger to area hospitals. None of the hospitals were treating anyone for a severed finger, he said, adding that authorities are keeping the digit cold and are in close contact with area hospitals.
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