Authorities are working to fight fraudulent telephone calls, SMS messages, and advertisements. That’s according to top communications regulator Chen Yao-hsiang (陳耀祥) while answering lawmakers’ questions on Wednesday.
Taiwan has recently seen a noticeable increase in fraudulent messages, including an advertisement using the likeness of New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜). To discuss the issue, regulators met with major platform operators Google and Meta last week, who promised to remove fake advertisements within 24 hours.
Lawmaker Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) says though the government has a communication channel with these platforms, the average person doesn’t. He says platforms also complain they don’t have a regulatory institution.
Chen says his agency’s main role is to block fraud, and it will work with the Digital Ministry to use AI against the spread of fraudulent content.
Chen adds the public should contact authorities when it finds instances of fraud and regulators will create a communication mechanism for dealing with cases.