CW: This article contains mentions of online harassment and abuse.
Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), a DPP legislator in the Legislative Yuan, has recently had to come out to deny that lewd photos making their way around LINE are not of her.
Recently a LINE message was shared captioned “Guess who this is?” (「猜猜我是誰」) along with 4 pictures of a woman in a compromising position who reportedly looks similar to Kao.
The legislator quickly came out to deny that the woman in the images was her. She pointed out inconsistencies between her self and the individual in the photos including dyed hair, Kao says she hasn’t dyed hers in a decade. Kao often sports a bracelet similar to those in the pictures however, she wears hers on her right hand, while the bracelet in the photo is on the left. Kao also pointed out that the woman in the photo has fake eyelashes, but she does not.
Kao stated that sharing the photo could bring harm to the woman in the picture and also herself and urged people not to circulate it further. She also filled a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
This case is reminiscent another incident involving Kao where she and other well know Taiwanese individuals, including Kaohsiung City Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷), were put into adult materials using DeepFake technology by Taiwanese YouTuber named Siao Yu (小玉). He has since been arrested.
Huang Jie and others used this incident to bring awareness to digital sex crimes and call for reforms to protect people on the internet. This most recent incident one again highlights the need for such amendments and shows that even if people don’t have explicit pictures of themselves on the internet, they can still become the victim of such abuses.