Legislators yesterday called for stricter regulation of Facebook Marketplace to address a surge in scams on the peer-to-peer site, calling the government’s current approach ineffective and in need of a bold response.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said that many fraudulent posts on the commerce platform use suggestive images or unreasonably low prices to lure customers, while some do not specify the source of the product they purport to sell.
Some illegally sell medication or drugs, she said, adding that she has seen a town house for sale on the Web site for just NT$320.
Photo: Liu Ming-de, Taipei Times
Although the Ministry of Economic Affairs has regulations governing online retail platforms, it does not have any means to respond to such scams without jurisdiction over Facebook, Lin said.
The government cannot do anything about the marketplace, and yet it still provides Facebook public funds to promote its posts, she said.
The social media giant’s Taiwan office is only responsible for marketing and must send any problems to its corporate headquarters, Lin said.
A week ago the office tried to contact its headquarters, but they have not responded, she said, adding that even legislators’ messages are going unanswered.
“How can the government turn a blind eye to a platform so opposed to Taiwanese law, full of suggestive content and scams?” she asked.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) needs to “muster the courage” to address the issue, DPP Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said, adding that the platform must more effectively block inaccurate postings.
Facebook has a social responsibility to its users and to follow local laws, yet on marketplace, pornographic content is readily available, not to mention the sales of illicit drugs, DPP Legislator Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸) said, asking who should be held accountable.
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed retail online faster than anticipated, making services such as marketplace important public spaces and increasingly favored platforms for scammers, DPP Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said.
The NCC and Department of Commerce keep “kicking the ball back and forth” on regulation, yet it is the NCC’s responsibility to request that a post be taken down, he said.
As digital platforms are not good at self-regulating, governments must step in, National Taipei University of Technology intellectual property institute associate professor Christy Chiang (江雅綺) said.
A foreign-based company such as Facebook can dodge local laws, making it hard to regulate and ensure fair competition, she said, calling for the creation of a regulatory entity.
The Internet lacks a centralized authority, but most sites can be held accountable through their corporate counterpart, NCC Planning Department Director Wang De-wei (王德威) said.
Its borderless nature makes it extremely difficult to manage, but the NCC is working on drafting a digital communications bill based on EU law, he added.
The bill would require Web sites to register locally with a legal representative and require the platforms to self-regulate, while also removing illegal content when requested by local authorities, he said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS