[Politics] Meta Suffers Large-Scale Account Suspension; TPP Plans to Propose Digital Platform User Protection Act
bellala 央廣4h ago
Meta's social media platforms have recently experienced a large-scale, unannounced account suspension incident, impacting influencers, politicians, media outlets, and general businesses. Taiwan People's Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang questioned on the 17th the Digital Development Ministry's passive and inactionable stance towards large multinational platforms. Legislator Hung Yu-hsiang stated that the party caucus plans to promote legislation for the rights and interests of users on large digital platforms, requiring platform operators to establish time-limited appeal and human review mechanisms, and to include penalties.
Meta's Facebook, Instagram, and Threads have successively reported accounts being suspended without notice, with the reason often cited as "user is under 13 years old." Affected individuals include influencers like Pa Chiong and "Kuan Chang," former legislator Chen Po-wei, former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je, and official accounts of media outlets such as CNA and PTS News.
The TPP held a press conference on the 17th. Chairman Huang Kuo-chang stated that Meta's social platforms have significant market influence in Taiwan. Unannounced account suspensions are equivalent to stopping citizens from expressing their opinions and interrupting marketing services for businesses. He criticized the lack of transparency in the reasons for suspension and the appeal process, as well as the unpredictable timeline for account recovery, with users only receiving canned responses.
Legislator Hung Yu-hsiang pointed out that the controversy over arbitrary Meta account suspensions is not the first time. The Digital Development Ministry's response to such disputes has only been to forward information to Meta and state that it cannot directly intervene or force account recovery, indicating administrative inaction.
Hung Yu-hsiang urged the Digital Development Ministry to establish a notification zone for large platform account suspensions, consolidating cases of unexplained suspensions, and for the government to provide systematic feedback to Meta. He also called for the Executive Yuan's Consumer Protection Department, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Digital Development Ministry to form a task force to investigate from the perspectives of consumer protection, unfair trade practices, and information opacity, and to demand improvement measures from Meta.
Hung Yu-hsiang announced that the TPP caucus will also promote legislation related to "Protection of Rights and Interests of Users on Large Digital Platforms." This includes requiring platforms to provide specific reasons for restrictions, suspensions, or account deletions; for general accounts, appeals should be responded to within 7 days; for paid advertisers or paid users like Meta Verified, human review should be conducted within 48 hours; after an account is suspended, platforms should also retain data for a certain period, allowing users to retrieve their data. He stated: "(Original voice) That is to say, even if an account is suspended, the platform still has the obligation to store data for a period of time, for example, 180 days, so that users can download relevant transaction data, whether it's videos, messages, or fan page content, unless it involves requests from judicial authorities, such as major exceptions like child sexual exploitation."
Hung Yu-hsiang also mentioned that the legislation is considering referencing external dispute resolution mechanisms from the EU, Australia, Japan, etc., where a third party provides fair certification and resolution. It also requires large digital platforms to regularly publish transparent reports and includes provisions for administrative and continuous penalties.
Hung Yu-hsiang emphasized that the purpose of this legislation is to address issues of opaque platform suspensions, lack of recourse for appeals, and consumer rights, thereby protecting the digital rights of Taiwanese users. The TPP will hold public hearings with experts and scholars and is expected to propose relevant legislation soon.
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=215071
How does this article make you feel?
0 people reacted