MODA fines Meta NT$1 million for ad disclosure violation under anti-fraud act

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) on Thursday said it fined Meta Platforms, Inc. NT$1 million (US$33,290) for failing to disclose information on individuals who commissioned and funded two Facebook advertisements, marking the first fine issued under the newly enacted anti-fraud act.

Two advertisements on Facebook were confirmed to have violated the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act by multiple agencies, including MODA, the Ministry of Justice, and the Executive Yuan's anti-fraud command center, the ministry said in a news statement issued on Thursday afternoon.

The act stipulates that when online advertisement platform operators publish or broadcast advertisements on their platforms, they shall disclose "information related to personnel commissioning the publishing and broadcasting and investors."

"MODA communicated with platform operators multiple times during the drafting of the Act over related regulations, and those operators expressed a willingness to comply with the act," the ministry added.

"However, specific violations of the regulations were still identified, and penalties were therefore imposed in accordance with the act," the ministry said.

Failing to comply with the disclosure requirement is punishable by a fine of between NT$200,000 and NT$5 million under the act, which has been in effect since July 31 last year.

MODA said it had fined Meta NT$500,000 (US$16,645) for each violation and ordered the company to rectify the issues within a specified period, without disclosing when the fines were imposed or which advertisements led to the penalties.

However, the ministry noted in the statement that failure to make corrections by the deadline will result in repeat fines, raising questions about whether Meta has complied with the order or taken down the advertisements.

With Meta's penalty marking the first of its kind since the act's implementation, MODA said it will continue to urge platform operators to strictly comply with the law and fulfill their legal responsibilities in information disclosure and source management.

The act was established to "prevent and stop fraud crimes through the inappropriate use of finance, telecom, and Internet," Article 1 of the act reads.

Fraud is a serious issue in Taiwan, with the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) reporting over 230,000 fraudulent advertisements for removal from online advertising platforms between June 28, 2023, and March 31, 2025.

In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the CIB requested the removal of 36,824 investment scam advertisements from Meta and 1,576 from Google, according to the bureau.