Upcoming elections in Taiwan mean a surge of misinformation from neighboring China. Let's see how the island nation tackles this challenge.
The moment you knew it was false news, right?
That's the reaction many Taiwanese get when they encounter misleading information on their favorite messaging app, Line. When an unfounded claim popped up on Line, a chatbot called Chatbot Auntie Meiyu stepped in. It replied the original claim had no scientific basis and pointed users to an article debunking the falsehoods.
Chatbot Auntie Meiyu is part of Taiwan's growing fleet of fact-checking apps. As democracy's frontline, Taiwan's 23.5 million inhabitants are ramping up their efforts to combat the rising tide of misinformation.
Dr. Xie Changting, an assistant professor at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, mentioned the chatbot in a recent interview. Besides debunking the new coronavirus myths, "Auntie" also exposed other unfounded rumors, such as incorrect government statements, distorted opinion poll results, and fabricated food safety issues.
Experts agree that fact-checking mechanisms will become even more crucial, especially as Taiwan prepares to elect a new president this month. Tensions are high as Beijing ramps up military, political, and economic pressures on the democratic island, which China considers its own territory, albeit one it has never controlled.
Elections often bring an increase in misinformation, and Taiwan is no exception. Given its unstable geopolitical situation, the digital threat persists even outside electoral seasons.
A report from Stockholm's Democracy Institute revealed that Taiwan received the most disinformation from foreign sources for the tenth straight year – underscoring the need for effective counter-measures.
Growing Security Concerns
Taiwan's security teams keep a close eye on disinformation threats.
During a recent security briefing behind closed doors, Taiwan's intelligence agency warned CNN that China was planning to sway the upcoming Taiwan elections via a series of disinformation, military, and economic tactics. These efforts aimed to boost the chances of opposition candidates who favor closer ties with Beijing, said a high-ranking security official in Taiwan, referring to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
According to Taiwan's intelligence agency, Chairman 4 of the Communist Party of China, Wang Huning, held a meeting recently to coordinate these influence operations while reducing the chances of external parties discovering China's meddling.
"They want the party we don't like to lose," the Taiwanese security official commented, referring to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which regards Taiwan as a de facto sovereign state and has prioritized improving relations with the West since 2016.
The Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, Vice President Lai Qingde, leads the polls and is openly despised by Chinese officials. Lai is followed closely by Hou Yu-yi of the Kuomintang and Ko Wenzhe of the Taiwanese People's Party, who are perceived as pro-China candidates.
China employs various tactics to further its goals in Taiwan, including cognitive warfare operations, broadcasting disinformation, and inflaming social media topics favored by China-friendly candidates, according to security officials who attended a non-public press conference. This is said to be the most complex operation ever reported by CNN.
Security officials pointed out that China is not only operating content farms and fake accounts on social media; their efforts are more nuanced.
Other tactics employed include collaborating with private businesses to create fake news sites, selectively extracting incriminating quotes from Taiwanese TV shows that fit China's narrative and repackaging them as short social media clips, and illegally funding small Taiwanese websites that mainly cover local issues, although they occasionally report content impugning unfavorable candidates for China.
One prominent piece of misinformation is the rumor that Hsiao, the Democratic Progressive Party's vice-presidential candidate and Taiwan's former top representative in Washington, is a U.S. citizen.
Fact-checking reports from Taiwan's Fact-Checking Center, a well-known news verification organization, show that Hsiao did once hold U.S. citizenship but renounced it in 2002.
Peking didn't just spread lies – they also put pressure on Taiwanese businessmen to adhere to the party line and offered rewards to politicians in mainland cities who expressed support for candidates favoring closer ties with China.
CNN reached out to China's Taiwan Affairs Office for a comment but did not receive a response.
False-Flag Warning
China's attempts to sway Taiwanese voters haven't always succeeded. In 1996, before Taiwan's first direct presidential election, Peking launched missiles into Taiwan, hoping it would persuade voters to support pro-unification candidates. The tactic backfired, with the anti-unification candidate, Lee Teng-hui, winning in a landslide.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party and unable to run again due to term limits, has been the target of angry warnings from Chinese officials. But she gained the confidence of Taiwan's voters in 2016 and 2020, despite the opposition.
Experts in media literacy say China's cognitive warfare campaign against Taiwan has been ongoing for years, intensifying during election seasons.
Puma Shen, an associate professor specializing in disinformation at the National Taipei University, said researchers often find associations between disinformation campaigns and Chinese government agencies by analyzing IP addresses tied to accounts spreading false info, and determining whether those accounts are automated.
"China's public opinion campaigns often target independent voters and younger voters," said Shen, who is running for the DPP's legislative seat.
But Taiwanese security personnel have warned that China's disinformation campaign may have consequences beyond eroding public trust in the government. The authorities are investigating an incident this summer, in which they suspect China might have been training for a "false-flag" operation – one which could have been used as justification for future military attacks on Taiwan.
The incident occurred in July when a pro-Beijing Taiwanese media outlet falsely claimed the U.S. had ordered Taiwan to develop biological weapons for use against the People's Liberation Army.
Falsified records allegedly showing discussions between top Taiwan officials about the phantom project spread online, eventually reaching local reporters.
Both Washington and Taipei denied any collaboration on biological weapons development, and there's no evidence that such talks ever took place. Taiwanese authorities launched an investigation into the reporter on charges of falsification.
A Taiwanese security official told CNN that Taiwan had reasons to suspect China was behind the fake documents due to their use of several terms familiar to the Chinese Communist Party that Taiwan is not privy to.
Given the public outrage, the Chinese military reportedly sent over 100 fighter jets to Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone within the next three days – a significantly higher number than usual.
"We believe this is more than just spreading disinformation," the security official said. "China seems to be practicing using disinformation as a pretext for military action. And it could be using the upcoming conflict between the U.S. and China as a pretext to attack Taiwan."
The Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
Media Literacy
The growing threat of disinformation and its potential impact on Taiwan's democracy underlines the need for effective fact-checking mechanisms, empowering people to recognize falsehoods in their daily lives.
Chen Peihuang, a senior reporter at the Taiwan Fact-Checking Center, said while their team consists of about a dozen reporters, they are far outnumbered by the flood of misinformation circulating online.
"It is important to verify not just one piece of information but to also improve media literacy," Peihuang said. "When a majority of people can question the veracity of an information, it becomes harder for rumors to spread."
Apps like Chatbot Auntie Meiyu can help in this regard, offering automated monitoring features that scans group chats and direct messages, warning users about potentially misleading sexual content.
"Many people said it was really helpful," says Chen Li, CEO of Gogolook, a tech company focusing on call services. "Sometimes users have fears about debunking the information to their family members. With the chatbot, they don't have to feel so nervous. And it's apolitical, so it doesn't attract any political disputes."
A female user from Taoyuan, Ms. Hsieh, praised the chatbot for making her older relatives more cautious about sharing unverified news.
"For them, it's a turning point. They now ask themselves if information they receive is actually accurate before sharing it," said Hsieh.
Chen Peihuang's role goes beyond fact-checking, seeking to provide Taiwanese with accurate data and statistics.
"When we can deliver real data and statistics to the public, they will understand that despite our differing opinions, we base our opinions on solid evidence," Chen said.
Also read:
Taiwan's intelligence agency has claimed China aims to sway the upcoming elections in Taiwan through a combination of disinformation, military tactics, and economic pressure.
Taiwan's daily life is affected by a deluge of misinformation, as revealed in a report by Stockholm Democracy Institute.
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Additional insights:
Taiwan has developed a multi-faceted approach to combat disinformation campaigns from China, working together with both government and non-governmental bodies. Key elements include:
- Independent fact-checking groups collaborating with government ministries to quickly identify and address fake news, ensuring accurate information reaches the public.
- Immediate response mechanisms, aiming to respond to misinformation within the first few hours. This swift counseling helps prevent the widespread dissemination of falsehoods.
- Collaboration with the private sector to efficiently propagate verified information and counter disinformation campaigns.
- Sharing strategies with other countries facing similar issues. Taiwan has shared its tactics for countering disinformation with the UK and European nations, providing valuable knowledge and best practices.
- Humor and public engagement as a means to combat misinformation through humor, creating engaging and memorable counter-memes.
- Government support for fact-checking groups, while not providing financial aid directly, does ensure close coordination with ministry officials for the dissemination of clarifications and rebuttals to fake news.
- Strengthened cybersecurity measures to tackle the high volume of cyber-attacks, particularly those launched by Chinese cyber forces. Taiwan's National Security Bureau reported a significant increase in cyber-attacks in 2024, but the island's robust cybersecurity measures have helped mitigate these threats.
