Authorities probe whether Samsung hired students to give HTC bad online reviews

04-15-2013 • The RawStory.com

Taiwanese authorities said Monday they had launched an investigation into allegations that South Korean tech giant Samsung hired students to post malicious comments about local rival HTC online.

“The case was set up last week after we received complaints,” Fair Trade Commission spokesman Sun Lih-chyun told AFP.

He said the probe would look into allegations that Samsung engaged in false advertising and that if the allegations were upheld, Samsung and its local advertising agent could face a fine of up to Tw$25 million ($835,000).

Complaints emerged this month, with Internet users alleging that Samsung, through its local agent, had hired students to write online articles attacking HTC and recommending Samsung cellphones, the United Evening News said.

When asked about the allegations, an official at Samsung Taiwan said the company had not been informed of the investigation by the Fair Trade Commission.

But in a statement on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/SamsungTaiwan, Samsung Taiwan said it regretted “any inconvenience and confusion from the Internet event”.