Shopee Taiwan removes AI-porn that appears to depict children

台灣蝦皮下架AI色情虛擬兒童寫真

Health ministry says content falls under exisiting anti-child exploitation law


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Online retailer Shopee has removed AI-generated pornographic images depicting what appeared to be children after the health ministry called them illegal.

The Liberty Times reported on Monday (Oct. 2) that a retailer had listed AI-created pornography on Shopee that appeared to depict children well under the age of 18. The seller reportedly said that the characters were fictional and were over 18, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said that AI-created pornography that appears to depict children is illegal, regardless of claims made by its producer.

MOHW Department of Protective Services Director Chang Hsiu-yan (張秀鴛) told the Liberty Times that under Taiwan’s laws targeting the sexual exploitation of minors, the seller may face up to seven years of imprisonment and fines if found guilty.

The law states that sexual exploitation of a child includes distributing sexual media "that is sexually relevant and, by objective standards, arouses sexual desire or shame.” Chang said that given these standards, wrongdoing would be determined on the basis of “objective standards” that assess if the materials depict children.

Chang said that in addition to the individual sellers, platforms selling the materials could face penalties for allowing this kind of material to be sold. She said that under the sexual assault prevention act, a fine of NT$60,000 (about US$1,860) to NT$600,000 could be imposed, and foreign platforms may be barred from operating.

Taiwan News submitted a query to Shopee on Monday morning regarding other listings that also appeared to offer AI-generated child pornography. Shopee did not reply to the email, but by midday, the listings had been removed. One seller said their materials were removed by Shopee.

An anti-child exploitation activist and a law professor both said that fictional creations depicting child sexual abuse can lead to sexual abuse in real life. Both said that past cases have documented abusers using the images to convince children that such behavior is normal to enable further abuse.