Man who shared deepfake of mayoral hopeful receives two-year deferred prosecution

Wu, a man in his 60s, reposted a manipulated picture on June 7 that falsely suggested Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen was involved with a nude woman and drug use. The original deepfake had first appeared on an X account named "Hsueh Ting-ting Returns," whose IP was linked to China. Investigators used tools such as Reality Defender and Media Integrity AI to verify the image’s falsity.

After Wu admitted knowingly sharing the fake and issued a public apology, prosecutors offered a two-year deferred prosecution, contingent on his attendance at ten legal-education sessions. Shen, a DPP lawmaker, consented to the deal, and a separate probe continues into the creator of the deepfake. The case unfolds amid Shen's campaign against incumbent mayor Chiang Wan-an in the upcoming November 28 election.