A woman in Nantou, referred to as Xiao Hua, recently discovered that her husband, Ah Ming, had years earlier donated sperm to his brother’s wife, resulting in the birth of a daughter via artificial insemination. Outraged by the revelation, Xiao Hua repeatedly called and insulted her sister-in-law on the phone, even threatening to harm her niece, leaving the sister-in-law deeply fearful and prompting her to report the matter to the police.
According to the court ruling, between June 2024 and March this year, Xiao Hua used her phone and social media platform Facebook to publicly share personal information about the sister-in-law and her family—including names, occupations, and family details—along with defamatory statements that seriously harmed their reputation and daily lives.
For instance, Xiao Hua posted in a Facebook group criticizing Ah Ming’s brother: “You can’t have children yourself, so you had your wife conceive with your own brother. How do you explain this to your sister-in-law?” She also directly targeted her sister-in-law, writing: “Living in [city] and working at [company], you had an affair with your husband’s brother and had a daughter. Aren’t you ashamed?” On the niece’s personal page, she allegedly posted under Ah Ming’s name: “[Niece], your mother shamelessly had you with your uncle; you aren’t [husband’s] daughter.”
Xiao Hua even impersonated Ah Ming on his Facebook account, posting: “My brother [name] is infertile, and his wife insisted I sleep with her to conceive a child. [Niece] isn’t [husband’s] daughter; it’s outrageous and shameless.”
The Nantou District Court found that while Xiao Hua had no prior criminal record, her threats, insults, and dissemination of private information via social media were serious violations of privacy and defamation, causing significant damage to the sister-in-law’s family.
Taking into account that Xiao Hua admitted her actions during the trial but did not reach a settlement or provide compensation, and considering her high school education and average financial situation, the court sentenced her to 40 days of detention for threatening public safety, which can be converted to a fine of NT$1,000 (approximately RM140) per day. She also received a four-month prison term under the Personal Data Protection Act for illegally using personal data, also convertible to a daily NT$1,000 (around RM140) fine. The verdict is still subject to appeal.
