The Ministry of Digital Affairs yesterday fined Meta Platforms Inc NT$15 million (US$501,639) after it failed to disclose information about Facebook advertisement sponsors in compliance with the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例).
The fine came after the ministry on May 22 fined the US-based company NT$1 million for the same offense.
The magnitude of the offense was greater this time, as the Ministry of the Interior flagged 23 cases on Facebook and transferred them to it, the digital ministry said.
Photo: Reuters
The digital ministry said it had given Meta an opportunity to explain itself before imposing the fine.
“We found that Facebook demonstrated a major systematic oversight in its advertisement management, causing it to be unable to disclose the identities of sponsors and funding parties in a timely manner upon publication and broadcast... Meta is fined NT$15 million and ordered to rectify the situation in 30 days,” the digital ministry said, adding that it would impose consecutive penalties if the company does not address the issue by the deadline.
Meta said yesterday that it would continue working to address the problem, ensure the safety of the platform and enable users to clearly identify beneficiaries and funders of advertisements appearing on Facebook and Instagram.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates