Taipei's city government is under fire for allegedly spending public money on foreign online accounts to boost its official Facebook page, a bad look for a city that promises open government.

• A city councillor accused city hall of using taxpayer money to buy fake foreign accounts to make its "I am a Taipei citizen" page look popular.
• The contract has ballooned since 2024, from an initial 3 million NT dollars to nearly 9 million after five changes.
• The tourism and information department said the ads were simply misdirected to Southeast Asia by mistake.
• Officials defended extending the deal, saying they did not want the Facebook page to go dark; it now runs to 2027.

Outlook: Expect more questions in the city council over how the contract grew and where the ad money actually went.