Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che now face legal complaints involving AI voice cloning. DPP city councilor candidate Chang Ming-yu filed criminal charges against Chiang this week. Specifically, he accused Chiang of commissioning a video impersonating President William Lai’s voice.
According to Chang, a former KMT media official allegedly produced this controversial video using cloned audio. Police have since contacted that individual, while prosecutors formally investigate the matter further. Chang filed three separate charges, including document forgery, defamation and privacy law violations.
Furthermore, Chang cited Chiang’s own comments claiming he requested Huang’s team create the video. Since Huang now faces investigation, Chang argued Chiang cannot avoid similar scrutiny entirely. He urged prosecutors to examine whether Chiang orchestrated this AI voice cloning scheme deliberately.
Lawyer Chan Chin-chien argued that Chiang’s video misled the public and damaged Lai’s reputation significantly. He suggested electromagnetic recordings produced through AI voice cloning could qualify as forged documents legally. Although Chiang claimed proper AI labeling existed, Chan disputed how visibly that disclaimer appeared.
Specifically, Chan noted the disclosure sat buried within a collapsed YouTube description section. Consequently, he questioned whether platforms automatically added this warning rather than producers disclosing it intentionally. Chan also raised concerns about unauthorized use of Lai’s personal biometric data.
Meanwhile, KMT councilors Yang Chih-tou and Chen Kuan-an filed opposing complaints against DPP officials separately. They accused Legislator Wang Ting-yu and Mayor Huang of similarly violating defamation and privacy laws. This action followed a news conference where Wang and Huang criticized Chiang’s alleged misconduct.
During that event, both officials played AI-generated audio clips demonstrating Chiang’s voice being manipulated. Yang argued prosecutors’ selective scrutiny toward Chiang alone prompted their retaliatory legal complaints entirely. He maintained that satire without false statements shouldn’t constitute criminal wrongdoing under current law.
Ultimately, this escalating dispute highlights growing legal uncertainty surrounding AI voice cloning in Taiwanese politics. Moving forward, prosecutors’ findings could shape future regulations governing synthetic media use nationwide.
