Jimmy Huang takes over as Minister of the National Development Council, aiming to create Taiwan's version of Silicon Valley and launch the first anti-fraud reporting platform.

The Minister of the Digital Development Department recently passed on to Huang Yannan, former Director of the Information Innovation Technology Research Center at the Academia Sinica and Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Special Topic Center. He went to the Transportation Committee on the 27th for the first time to report on the business and was questioned. Due to a hoarse throat, he politely declined interviews.

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Ministry of Digital Development Unveils Three Policies, Starting with Fraud Reporting Network

In order to implement President Tsai Ing-wen's ultimate goal of transforming Taiwan into a "smart technology island and a new digital society," Minister Huang Yan-nan stated that the Ministry of Digital Development will implement three policies, namely, "promoting anti-fraud efforts," "strengthening digital resilience," and "developing the digital economy."

Huang Yan-nan pointed out that the first policy is to promote anti-fraud efforts, with the primary tool being the "Anti-Fraud Special Law" already submitted to the Executive Yuan. The fraud reporting network aims to have both a web and app version, allowing the public to report fraudulent advertisements that impersonate public figures. The goal is to expedite the removal of ads that misuse celebrities and supervise the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) to assist in blocking fraudulent websites and establish an emergency response mechanism.

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Overlap between Fraud Reporting Network and 165 Reporting Hotline

However, the Fraud Reporting Network has been questioned by Kuomintang legislator Huang Chien-hao about whether its functions overlap with the 165 fraud hotline?

Huang Yan-nan explained that the 165 hotline is handled manually, which may have issues with timeliness. On the other hand, the fraud network will use AI technology to identify fraudulent activities, verify the authenticity of messages, and the possibility of integrating with 165 hotline will be further discussed.

The three policies include the aim to train a thousand cybersecurity talents within two years, establish a "digital expressway network," set up AI ecological parks in the north and south, and create a "Taiwanese version of Silicon Valley," with the goal of surpassing trillion-dollar digital economic output by 2026.

Difficulties in Regulating Advertisements, Hopes for Industry Self-Regulation

When questioned by Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Kuo-cheng, Huang Yan-nan admitted that before the Anti-Fraud Special Law is enacted, it is indeed difficult to regulate online advertising platforms. However, once the law is in place, it will be mandatory to require businesses to establish a physical presence in Taiwan or have legal representatives, with penalties imposed if not complied.

DPP legislator Lin Chun-hsien pointed out that the current lack of self-regulation by businesses is a major issue. Since last year, the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the police have issued administrative penalties 107 times, requesting internet platform operators to take down over 100,000 investment scam ads. However, the same fraudulent content keeps reappearing, suggesting that the Ministry of Digital Development should further demand self-regulation from these businesses.

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Huang Yan-nan stated that before the Anti-Fraud Special Law is enacted, businesses will be frequently invited to the office for "coffee" meetings to provide moral persuasion and supervision.