The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) has fined Meta Platforms Inc NT$2.5 million (US$81,739) for its inadequate response to an order requiring the removal of false advertisements on Facebook.
The penalty was imposed after Meta failed to remove false advertisements on Facebook within 24 hours of being notified by the Taipei City Government, which constitutes a contravention of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), the Administration for Digital Industries said on Thursday.
The fine was based on two cases submitted by the Taipei City Government on June 18 and on July 14, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The city government notified the company of a total of 1,763 infractions relating to Facebook between the two dates.
Of the infractions, 77 were for Meta’s failure to remove false ads from Facebook within 24 hours.
While Meta had already complied with the order from the city government and removed 95 percent of the reported ads in a timely manner, 5 percent failed to meet the 24-hour deadline, the agency said.
As Taipei issued its findings to Meta via hardcopy rather than digital notifications, the agency said the US firm was unable to remove the remaining 5 percent of fake ads within the required timeframe.
On top of the NT$2.5 million fine, the ministry also demanded that Meta rectify the mistake in its protocols within 30 days, the agency said.
Of the 1,763 infractions identified by the city government, 1,686 involved Meta’s lack of transparency regarding advertiser information, officials said. In those cases, the company has since provided the data to the National Police Agency.
With Meta cooperating, the agency said it would coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior to establish a direct channel of communication between tech firms and local governments.
The system would encourage social media companies to remove fake ads to lower the risks posed to Taiwanese users, it said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS