Threads Account Suspensions: Taiwan's Digital Ministry Launches Investigation to Protect Digital Rights

(Central News Agency reporter Pan Zhiyu, Taipei, July 15) Meta's social media platform Threads experienced an unexpected wave of account suspensions today. The Ministry of Digital Development (MODD) announced in the evening that it has contacted Meta to actively assist in restoring access and has initiated an investigation to protect citizens' digital rights.

According to media reports, from late on July 14 to the morning of July 15, numerous high-profile accounts on Threads were suddenly suspended, including those of internet celebrity Ba Jiong, former legislator Chen Po-wei, Taoyuan City Councilor Huang Qiong-hui, Formosa Television News, Taiwan People's Party founding chairperson Ko Wen-je, popular streamer Captain Chuang, and the Kuomintang Youth League. The official reason provided by Threads for all suspensions was 'under 13 years of age.'

After receiving public complaints on the morning of July 15, the MODD proactively contacted Meta Taiwan to address the issue. Meta responded that preliminary analysis suggests this may have been a technical issue arising from the age verification mechanism, not targeting any specific group or individual, and that the company will expedite the reinstatement process.

Meta issued a statement in the evening, confirming that a technical error led to a small number of accounts being incorrectly flagged as belonging to users under 13 years old. The company is actively resolving the issue and working to fix it as quickly as possible.

The MODD advised affected Taiwanese Threads users who believe their accounts were mistakenly suspended to appeal through one of three official channels: the Facebook account suspension appeal channel, the Instagram account suspension appeal channel, or the Threads account suspension appeal channel.

The MODD emphasized that it will continue monitoring the investigation's progress from the standpoint of protecting citizens' digital rights, urging the company to communicate transparently with the public and handle the matter proactively to jointly safeguard information security and legitimate rights. (Edited by Yang Lan-hsuan) 1150615