DistantNews
Support us
🇹🇼 Taiwan /Crime & Justice

Taiwan: Councilor Questions Effectiveness of Anti-Scam Law Without 'Significant Circumstances' Definition

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Taipei City Councilor Tseng Hsien-ying criticizes the Digital Development Ministry for failing to define "significant circumstances" for online scam ad removal.
  • This lack of definition hinders the effective implementation of anti-scam laws, potentially rendering penalties ineffective.
  • Tseng highlights a rise in Meta platform scam cases and calls for clearer central government guidelines for local enforcement.

Taipei City Councilor Tseng Hsien-ying has voiced strong criticism against Taiwan's Digital Development Ministry, accusing it of failing to establish clear criteria for what constitutes "significant circumstances" under the anti-scam advertising law. The law, implemented two years ago, allows for substantial fines of up to NT$100 million (approximately $3.1 million USD) for online platform operators who fail to remove scam advertisements promptly.

The law clearly states that platform operators who fail to remove scam ads in a timely manner, under significant circumstances, can be fined NT$2.5 million to NT$100 million, and can be penalized repeatedly. However, the Digital Development Ministry has yet to establish the definition of 'significant circumstances.'

— Tseng Hsien-yingExplaining the core issue with the current anti-scam law implementation.

Tseng argues that without a defined standard for "significant circumstances," local authorities face challenges in imposing penalties. This ambiguity, she contends, could render the law's punitive measures ineffective, turning them into "talking points" rather than a genuine deterrent. The councilor pointed to data showing a significant increase in scam cases involving the Meta platform, which rose from 15% in 2023 to 36.7% in the first half of this year, indicating a persistent problem that requires more robust enforcement.

If local authorities discover violations on platforms like Meta, the effectiveness of subsequent penalties is questionable. Even with heavy fines available, if the supporting measures are not in place, local investigation results may not translate into effective deterrence.

— Tseng Hsien-yingHighlighting the practical difficulties faced by local authorities due to the lack of clear central guidelines.

Data presented by Tseng indicates that while police have been diligent in reporting and requesting the removal of scam ads, the central government's lack of specific guidelines for penalties is creating a bottleneck. Out of 875 reported cases where platforms failed to remove ads within the specified timeframe, only a fraction resulted in fines, with many being waived due to the absence of a clear "significant circumstances" definition. This disparity between local enforcement efforts and central government action is a key concern for Tseng, who stresses the need for the central authority to keep pace with local investigations to effectively combat online fraud.

Local investigations are fast, and reporting is prompt, but central penalties are not keeping up!

— Tseng Hsien-yingExpressing frustration over the disparity between local enforcement and central government action.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog