TAIPEI, July 1 — Social media giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been fined NT$15 million by Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs for failing to implement adequate advertising management systems, a violation deemed severe under the country’s Anti-Fraud Act. The fine follows previous enforcement action in May, where Meta was fined NT$1 million, bringing the total penalties to NT$16 million this year.
The Ministry stated that Facebook’s platform lacks mechanisms to ensure transparency in identifying advertisers and funders of sponsored content, leading to repeated violations. Meta now has 30 days to resolve these systemic deficiencies or risk further penalties.
High Risk of Fraudulent Ads
Meta was found to host the highest volume of fraudulent advertisements among major platforms, based on data from Taiwan’s Internet Fraud Reporting and Inquiry Network. Weekly takedown reports show that over 90% of removed scam ads originated from Meta’s services, primarily Facebook.
Authorities highlighted that of the 23 recent ad violations referred by the Ministry of the Interior for investigation, all were linked to Meta. This led the Ministry of Digital Affairs to launch a broader inquiry, which concluded that the issue stemmed from a platform-wide failure, rather than isolated incidents.
Legal Grounds for Penalty
The NT$15 million fine was issued under Article 40, Paragraph 2 of the Anti-Fraud Act, which allows for penalties between NT$1 million and NT$25 million for serious breaches of the real-name ad system. If Meta fails to make necessary changes within the 30-day window, it may face additional case-by-case fines.
According to Lin Qingxin, who leads the platform economy team at the Ministry, the penalty reflects both the gravity of the platform’s systemic shortfalls and the repeated nature of the violations. “If we only target individual ads, it undermines the law’s deterrent effect,” Lin said. “This approach ensures accountability at the structural level.”
Meta Responds and Vows Improvements
In response, Meta acknowledged the shortcomings and committed to strengthening platform integrity and user safety. The company said it is actively working with the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Taiwan’s Criminal Police Bureau to enhance fraud prevention efforts.
Meta also disclosed that, amid Taiwan’s intensified anti-fraud campaign, it had already removed over 146,000 fraudulent advertising accounts and 1.6 million scam-related ads in the past year. The company recently rolled out five anti-fraud initiatives, including:
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Facial recognition tools
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Verification for financial services advertisers
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Implementation of a full real-name ad system
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Expanded transparency measures
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Collaboration with government and public education efforts
Looking Ahead
This enforcement marks one of the largest fines issued to a digital platform in Taiwan under the new Anti-Fraud legislation. As digital fraud becomes more sophisticated, Taiwan’s government is signaling a zero-tolerance approach, particularly toward global platforms that fail to meet local compliance standards.
Meta has stated its intention to comply with the corrective order and strengthen systems to ensure better ad transparency and user protection moving forward.
