The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by a Taiwanese YouTuber and upheld his five-year prison sentence by a lower court for creating non-consensual deepfake pornography featuring the likenesses of real individuals.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said there was no error in the sentence handed down by the High Court in Chu Yu-chen’s (朱玉宸) second trial last year, adding that the verdict was justified based on solid evidence.
Chu, who goes by Xiaoyu (小玉) on YouTube, was found guilty in July 2022 by the New Taipei City District Court of contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) for editing the likenesses of 119 individuals, including politicians and social media influencers, into pornographic videos.
Photo: CNA
He, along with his assistant Chuang Hsin-jui (莊炘睿), made more than NT$10 million (US$308,518) from distributing the videos, court documents said.
Chu was given a five-and-a-half-year sentence, while Chuang received three years and eight months, but both were commutable to a fine.
An appeal was filed by prosecutors, who argued that the sentence was too lenient. as they could each pay a fine in lieu of jail time.
In December last year, the High Court revoked the original sentence and revised Chu’s imprisonment to five years, which cannot be commuted to a fine.
Using the likeness of individuals to create deepfake porn videos for public viewing not only tarnishes their reputation, but also harms their mental health, the Supreme Court ruled.
Chu will have to serve an additional 20 months in prison if he is unable to pay a fine after the high court imposed sentencing enhancements.
Meanwhile, the high court at the time also increased Chuang’s sentence to four-and-a-half years, commutable to a fine.
Chu and Chuang subsequently filed an appeal against the verdicts, but the original verdicts were upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and its decision is final.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS