Meta Platforms executives would visit the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) and other government agencies during an upcoming trip to Taiwan, after the social media operator was recently fined for failure to fully disclose advertisers’ information, the digital ministry confirmed on Tuesday.
Executives of the California-based firm plan to visit Taiwan next month to address anti-fraud issues, media reports said.
Last month, the operator of Facebook was fined a total of NT$1 million (US$33,760) for two cases in which the platform failed to disclose entities or individuals commissioning and funding the advertisements in accordance with the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例).
Photo: REUTERS
The punishment was determined following a joint assessment of officials from MODA, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the High Prosecutors’ Office and the Anti-Fraud Command Center of the Cabinet, the digital ministry said in a statement, adding that the company was asked to rectify the situations or face additional penalties.
A MODA official confirmed reports about the visit, adding that the ministry was glad to see Meta take online scams seriously.
MODA earlier this month said that it had received 23 other cases from the Ministry of the Interior about incomplete information disclosure of advertisers and sponsors on Facebook, adding that government officials from different agencies had reviewed the cases at a meeting on May 29.
Meta has been given an opportunity to respond to these cases as per administrative procedures, and MODA is still waiting for its responses, Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) told reporters in a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
In other news, the digital ministry said that since June 1 it has reinforced the verification mechanism for text messages sent by government agencies to prevent them being abused to commit fraud.
The upgrade was introduced after the police arrested scammers who allegedly distributed false text messages using fake base stations of the 2G network.
Previously, the government only designated the number 111 to mark text messages sent from government agencies. Starting this month, all 111 messages would contain the last three digits of the recipient’s number, as well as the name of the government agency that sent the text at the beginning.
Department of Digital Service Director-General Wang Chen-ming (王誠明) said that about 60 million 111 messages have been sent since 2023 from more than 500 government agencies.
However, scammers recently prevented 4G and 5G service users from receiving authentic 111 messages by using fake 2G base stations to cause electronic interference and distribute false messages, Wang said.
The upgraded verification mechanism would allow mobile phone users to better distinguish real 111 messages from false ones, Wang said.
Base stations on the 2G network can only transmit predetermined responses to common questions and cannot make adjustments based on mobile phone numbers, Wang said.
The occurrence of scams did not mean that the network used to transmit government text messages had security loopholes, Wang said.
“False messages were sent using fake 2G networks, not through networks set up by telecoms. To send messages, government agencies need to secure authorizations from MODA and must be on the ministry’s IP whitelist. Information would also be encrypted during the process of transmission. These measures are in place to ensure the safety and legitimacy of government-sent text messages,” Wang said.
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