Former Assistant of New Taipei Councilor Cho Kuan-ting Indicted for Spreading Doctored Billboard Image of Liao Yi-kun

(CNA reporters Tsao Ya-yen and Huang Hsu-sheng, New Taipei, April 11)

A former assistant surnamed Huang from the service office of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Cho Kuan-ting has been indicted for spreading a digitally altered image of fellow DPP councilor Liao Yi-kun from the same electoral district. The manipulated image misled the public into believing Liao had spent heavily on overseas travel and was secure in the party primary, violating the Personal Data Protection Act and defamation laws.

Cho Kuan-ting told CNA today that the former assistant’s actions were never instructed by him. However, he stated he would take responsibility as the employer for any staff—current or former—under investigation, and has sternly warned his team against similar incidents. He personally apologized to Liao Yi-kun a few weeks ago and expressed willingness to assist in reconciliation if both parties are open to it.

According to the indictment from the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, Huang worked as an assistant at Cho’s office from July last year until the end of January this year. On January 23, during the DPP’s primary election period, a staff member surnamed Chen from Cho’s office obtained a photo of Liao’s campaign billboard from an online community. Using artificial intelligence (AI) software, Chen altered the text from 'Successfully secured pedestrian walkway for Yingge business district' to 'Primary race is locked in—Hello! I’m in Spain!' and uploaded the image to the office’s LINE work group.

The prosecution found that after seeing the altered image, Huang anonymously forwarded it to the LINE community group 'Shulin People,' writing: 'I saw this online—Councilor, are you really in Spain? Can you post more photos so we can see the scenery?' and 'I really want to go, but I can’t afford it.' These messages misled the public into believing Liao had spent a large sum traveling to Spain and was confident in the primary race.

During investigation, Huang admitted to the offense. Chen admitted to creating the AI-generated parody image to mock Liao, but claimed it was only meant to amuse colleagues within the private group and said he was unaware it had been shared in the 'Shulin People' community until Liao filed a complaint.

Prosecutors concluded that Huang violated the Personal Data Protection Act by improperly using personal data beyond the original purpose, and is also charged with defamation under the Criminal Code. Prosecutors recommend a heavier penalty under the Personal Data Protection Act. Chen, however, will not be prosecuted.

(Editor: Lee Ming-tsung)