The government is considering asking TikTok and other large digital advertising platforms to have agents based in Taiwan in accordance with the draft act on the prevention and control of fraud and crime, which is scheduled to be reviewed at an Executive Yuan meeting today, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.
The draft act is one of the legislative measures being introduced by the government to tackle scams, including the draft technology investigation and security act, and amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法).
They are also to be reviewed at today’s Cabinet meeting.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
As large advertising platforms are often based overseas and the government frequently has trouble conveying regulations to them, the draft act on the prevention and control of fraud and crime would require large advertising platforms to have agents based in Taiwan, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) told a news conference in Taipei.
The agents would be responsible for informing large platforms about the regulations in Taiwan, and could be accountants or lawyers, ministry officials said.
The draft act would list objective standards to determine whether a platform is a large advertising platform and subject to regulation, Tang said.
“A platform would not be regulated by the draft act if it serves merely as instant messaging software and does not run advertisements,” she said. “TikTok and other advertising platforms that can be widely accessed by the public would all be subject to regulation by the draft act.”
“For platforms that do not comply with the draft act, the government could first regulate online traffic to the platforms. Access to the platforms could be restricted following expert reviews if they commit serious offenses,” she said.
Aside from advertising platforms, the draft act also regulates e-commerce operators, third-party payment processors and online gaming companies, which are also obligated to counter fraud, Tang said.
To address problems caused by fake accounts on online platforms, the draft act would require platform operators to verify the authenticity of accounts and advertisers via a digital signature, Fast Identity Online authentication or other cybersecurity technologies, she said.
The content should be labeled if it is generated using artificial intelligence or has been faked, Tang said.
Those who use the technology to impersonate other people should have their access to the platforms suspended, she said.
The heaviest fine for a non-compliant platform would be NT$25 million (US$770,701), Tang added.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’