The Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has asked Facebook to remove crypto scams and ad fraud on its platform. If Facebook fails to comply, the Thai government said it would seek a court-approved shutdown of the social media platform.
Many online ads are shown to us because the information is suited to our needs. However, on some social media platforms, more often than not, the ads are neither randomly displayed nor coincidentally cater to our needs. They are shown to us due to artificial intelligence algorithms. Ad fraud is an example of this. Algorithms must be employed to fight against scams.
According to the US, the UK and Australia, ad fraud on social media has plagued many countries. In Europe and the US, these ads are crypto scams, whereas in Taiwan, they feature fake endorsements by celebrities due to the post-pandemic stock market boom. The names of Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河), chairman of the Chinese-language Wealth Invest Weekly and Wealth magazines, TV host Daisy Chiu (邱沁宜) and independent investor Lee Chin-tu (李金土) have all been appropriated by scammers to commit fraud.
To curb these schemes, the Executive Yuan amended the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act (證券投資信託及顧問法) requiring a real-name registration system to regulate online investment ads. Social media platforms and Internet access service providers are also required to institute a mechanism through which ads can be examined beforehand and taken down afterward.
However, in practice, Internet platforms take a passive approach to complying with regulations, only removing fraudulent ads when they are notified by the police. As a result, the police have to work much harder to report online frauds. At the same time, scammers are constantly adjusting their tactics and developing new schemes to lure the public. They often utilize a hunger marketing strategy to attract and manipulate targets, demanding that they sign up as a VIP member within 24 hours. They also divide a long ad into 16 to 30 clips and display them extensively. The purpose is to entice as many people as possible to join their Line group, having them tempted little by little, and eventually swindling them.
Given that social media companies cannot regulate online scams and ad fraud in an effective way, the problem is left to the police to deal with. However, scammers have put up so many layers of smoke screen, it is hard for police to catch them. No wonder the Thai government took a harder approach and asked the court to shut down Facebook.
Adopting the four following measures could help get rid of investment fraud on social media platforms:
First, rather than simply waiting for a notification from the police, social media companies should take the initiative to uncover scams.
Second, on all social media platforms, sponsors and publishers of investment ads must be clearly identified and displayed.
Third, companies must cooperate with the police to track down those who post fraudulent investment ads.
Lastly, those who have been scammed and lost money should organize themselves and collectively claim compensation from the social media companies.
Transnational fraud rings have invested massively in spreading ad fraud. They have established various fake groups on social media platforms to influence people’s everyday lives. Fighting these scammers requires concrete strategies to regulate and govern social media.
Lin Shu-li is a doctoral student at Central Police University.
Translated by Emma Liu
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
RSS