Internet & Online Safety · Taiwan
Internet & Online Safety - Taiwan
Taiwan has no comprehensive online safety or content-moderation law comparable to the EU Digital Services Act or UK Online Safety Act. A draft Digital Intermediary Services Act (DISA), modeled on the EU DSA, was released by the National Communications Commission (NCC) in June 2022 but suspended after massive public backlash and has not been revived. The government has instead pivoted to sector-specific platform obligations embedded in functional laws — chiefly anti-fraud and advertising-disclosure rules — rather than a single digital safety code.
The NCC published a draft Digital Intermediary Services Act in June 2022 that would have imposed tiered transparency and moderation obligations on platforms, but suspended it by August 2022 after more than 30,000 citizens voted against it on the government's public-policy platform and the ruling party withdrew support ahead of elections. As of mid-2026 the bill has not been reintroduced.
Rather than passing a comprehensive platform law, Taiwan has embedded platform obligations in sector-specific statutes covering anti-fraud, child protection, and advertising disclosure. This approach avoids a single regulator controlling online speech, a politically sensitive issue given Taiwan's history of authoritarian press control.
Article 42 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (as amended) empowers authorities to order DNS blocking of non-compliant platforms in declared fraud-prevention emergencies. In December 2025 it was invoked for the first time against Xiaohongshu (RedNote), ordering a one-year block after 756 fraud cases were linked to the app and the platform failed cybersecurity standards and refused to establish local representation.
Under the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, online advertising platforms must disclose advertiser information and implement anti-fraud measures; MODA imposed administrative fines exceeding NTD 10 million in 2025 on platforms that failed to comply with advertising-disclosure or anti-fraud obligations.
In July 2023 the NCC established a dedicated Department of Internet Broadcasting and Governance to develop a governance framework for online content, but no binding comprehensive regulation has followed; the department's work remains preparatory and consultative.
Taiwan has no standalone age-verification law for online platforms comparable to those enacted in Australia or the EU. Platform liability for user-generated content is governed by general tort and criminal law rather than a specific safe-harbour or duty-of-care framework; the internet otherwise remains open and uncensored.
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/24/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →