The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) would assist six platforms, including Line and TikTok, to implement anti-fraud plans and publish transparency reports by the end of the year, Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) said today at a news conference to review the past year.
The ministry is overseeing the platforms Google, YouTube, Line, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — owned by four companies — on various anti-fraud responsibilities, he said.
The ministry has been enacting the Fraud Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), which came into effect in July last year, and issued four subsidiary regulations, he added.
Photo: Taipei Times
The act requires the six platforms to verify the identities of advertisers and investors, establish fraud prevention plans, regularly publish transparency reports and remove or restrict access to fraudulent advertisements within 24 hours upon notification from authorities.
The platforms submitted anti-fraud plans last month and would receive guidance from the ministry for their implementation before publishing transparency reports by December, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, TikTok has applied to appoint a legal representative in Taiwan, although it is pending interdepartmental review, including assistance from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, a MODA official said.
They are currently requesting supplementary documentation from TikTok, although cooperation is currently going smoothly, they added.
In other news, members of the Control Yuan applied for an independent review of online shopping platform Shopee on suspicions that it is backed by Chinese capital.
The MODA said that Shopee was subject to review by the economic ministry upon launch in Taiwan, but it trusts the economic ministry to cooperate in any further investigations.
The ministry also outlined three core policy directions: strengthening digital resilience, developing the digital economy and strengthening anti-fraud measures.
Officials summarized four key strategies in the Seventh National Information and Communication Security Development Program.
The program would enhance the cybersecurity resilience of critical infrastructure using an NT$1.4 billion (US$46.7 million) investment over the next three years, officials said.
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