Taiwanese YouTuber Arrested For Selling Deepfake Sex Videos Of Celebs Including Jolin Tsai
Police investigations revealed that doctoring these videos was a very lucrative business for Xiao Yu and he reportedly made S$483K from it.
A 26-year-old Taiwanese YouTuber, who goes by the name Xiao Yu, was recently arrested for selling deepfake pornographic videos of various individuals, ranging from influencers, to celebrities and even government officials.
Xiao Yu, whose real name is Zhu Yu Chen, retired from YouTubing in April this year. At that time, there were already rumours that he was involved in doctoring deepfake videos of influencers. df6Deepfake videos make use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to replace the faces of people in existing media with other people. Such technology has been made more accessible recently, giving rise to a surge of deepfake sex videos featuring celebs and persons of interest.
According to a list circulating online, victims of the deepfake videos include Taiwanese influencers Ili Cheng, Lyla, as well as celebs like Jolin Tsai, Lin Min Chen, Joanne Tseng, Yao Yao, Linda Chien and Miao Ke Li. Politicians and government officials like Kao Chia Yu, Huang Jie and Huang Jing Ying were also named.
Police investigations revealed that doctoring these videos was a very lucrative business for Xiao Yu. He ran a strict business, with netizens having to fork out membership fees of a few hundred Taiwanese dollars, before being granted access to a private chat group he moderated.
The videos were posted in the chat group, with different discussion channels and rooms for members to vote for their next victim, or to engage in “fundraising” activities.
It is estimated that he earned over NT$10mil (S$483K) from this.
When contacted for a comment, influencer Ili Cheng, who is better known as the ‘Chicken Cutlet Girl’, after her ad for a fried chicken cutlet restaurant went viral in 2012, expressed her intention to sue Xiao Yu.
The 28-year-old said: “ As a victim, I definitely hope that investigations for a case like this, with so many [victims], is carried out properly, so that the truth can come to light. As investigations are still ongoing, it’s not convenient for me to comment further. However, once they’ve confirmed the identity of the perpetrator, I’ll definitely sue them. Thank you for your concern”.
She also reminded everyone not to download such videos as they are a form of sexual violence.
Another influencer, Lyla, 24, said: “An evil man with evil looks! Someone who can even make a joke out of breastmilk, and is capable of doing something like deepfake videos, what [kind of evil] will he not do? Those who paid to see these videos are all accomplices! If they have nothing to do, then watch actual pornographic videos then, what’s the point of watching these deepfakes? They’re all trashy men, all terrible! Quickly close that chat group!”.
Taiwanese YouTuber Holger Chen, 42, was the only man named in the list of victims. Expressing his bewilderment in a live stream, he joked that his “Nation’s Husband” nickname was well-earned.
However, he did address the news more seriously in a follow-up statement, sharing that he does not understand why Xiao Yu had to resort to making deepfake videos to earn money.
Photos: Xiao Yu/Instagram, Sinchew Daily, Ili Chen/Instagram, Lyla/Instagram, Jolin Tsai/Instagram, Linda Chien/Instagram, Joanne Tseng/Instagram, Holger Chen/Instagram
