Combatting China's Deluge of Disinformation: Taiwan's Battle for the Crucial Election
As Taiwan braces itself for a crucial election, it battles a deluge of disinformation from China Citizens like Nancy Hsieh faced false remedies for Covid-19, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced security measures, flagging deceptive tactics, and promoting news literacy
During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Taiwanese resident Nancy Hsieh was told by her relatives that in order to prevent the virus from entering her lungs, she should consume large quantities of water mixed with salt and vinegar. However, she quickly recognized that this was misinformation.
Under the original message on Line, Taiwan's top messaging app, a chatbot promptly responded that the assertion lacked scientific support and provided a link to an article debunking the misinformation. Auntie Meiyu, the chatbot, is just one of several fact-checking apps in Taiwan that have become more prominent as the island nation of 23.5 million people ramps up efforts to counter the spread of false information within society.
In addition to debunking unscientific Covid treatments, "Auntie" also discredited fake speeches from Ministry of Economic Affairs officials, misrepresented polling results, and fraudulent food safety reports. Experts believe that fact-checking mechanisms like this are increasingly vital, particularly as Taiwan prepares for a significant presidential election next month.
At a time of heightened tensions, the vote coincides with Beijing's increased military, political, and economic pressure on Taiwan, which China's ruling Communist Party asserts as its own territory despite never having governed it.
Similar to many other locations around the globe, Taiwan frequently experiences a surge in disinformation around election times. However, it is also particularly targeted outside of election periods due to its vulnerable geopolitical position.
Taiwan, according to a report by Stockholm Universitys Varieties of Democracy Project, published in March this year, has once again received the greatest amount of disinformation from outside its borders for the 10th consecutive year. This highlights the need for effective fact-checking mechanisms on the island.
A supporter of Taiwan's opposition KMT waves a giant national flag in Taipei on November 24, 2023
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A growing security risk
Disinformation is something Taiwans security agencies are particularly alert to.
During a recent private security briefing attended by CNN, Taiwanese intelligence officials cautioned that China is actively seeking to sway Taiwan's upcoming election through a combination of disinformation, military maneuvers, and economic tactics. Their aim is to increase the prospects of opposition candidates who support closer relations with Beijing. Specifically, Taiwanese intelligence has disclosed that Wang Huning, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party, has orchestrated a meeting to coordinate these efforts and minimize the chances of detection by outside entities.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which considers Taiwan a de facto sovereign nation and has focused on strengthening relations with Western powers since 2016, is the target of their desire for electoral defeat, according to a senior Taiwanese security official. Vice President Lai Ching-te, the DPP candidate, is currently ahead in the polls and is openly disliked by Chinese officials.
Lai is currently leading the other two candidates - Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang party and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan Peoples Party - both of whom are believed to support closer ties with Beijing.
According to several officials who attended a closed-door security briefing with CNN, Taiwan views China's cognitive warfare tactics, such as spreading disinformation and amplifying pro-China candidate talking points, as the most advanced among the various strategies employed by Beijing.
In addition to running content farms and fake social media accounts, Chinese officials are accused of using multifaceted information operations. Other tactics allegedly employed by Beijing include collaborating with private companies to impersonate legitimate news sites, selecting soundbites from Taiwanese TV shows that align with Beijing's narratives, repackaging them into short social media videos, and secretly funding small news organizations in Taiwan that focus on local livelihood issues but also sometimes publish content that questions candidates opposed to Beijing.
Officials have pointed out a recent piece of disinformation about Hsiao Bi-khim, the DPP's vice-presidential candidate and former top representative in Washington, claiming that she is a US citizen. Fact-checking reports, including those from the Taiwan FactCheck Center, confirmed that while Hsiao used to be a US citizen, she renounced her citizenship in 2002.
In addition to spreading rumors, Beijing has been pressuring Taiwanese businesses with investments in mainland China to align with the party's stance, and enticing Taiwanese politicians with discounted trips to mainland cities in order to garner support for candidates advocating for stronger ties with Beijing, officials have alleged.
CNN has contacted China's Taiwan Affairs Office for a statement.
Local TV news broadcasts local elections amid tensions with China on November 26, 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan.
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False flag warnings
China's efforts to influence the voting decisions of Taiwanese citizens have not always been effective. In 1996, prior to Taiwan's inaugural direct presidential election, Beijing launched missiles towards the island in an attempt to dissuade voters from supporting a candidate who advocated for Taiwanese independence. However, this strategy ultimately failed, and the candidate, Lee Teng-hui, overwhelmingly won the election.
Taiwan's outgoing President, Tsai Ing-wen, a member of the DPP, has faced frequent warnings from Chinese officials, but despite this, she was elected to serve two consecutive terms in 2016 and 2020. News literacy experts suggest that China's cognitive warfare against Taiwan has been ongoing, even outside of election periods.
Puma Shen, an associate professor at National Taipei University specializing in researching disinformation, stated that researchers can often identify a connection between a disinformation campaign and the Chinese authorities by analyzing the IP addresses of the accounts spreading the rumors and determining if they are automated.
"The public opinion war in China often targets the influence of independent and young voters," said Shen, who is a candidate for legislator with the DPP.
The Taiwanese security officials warned that China's disinformation operations may not only erode trust in the government. A Taiwanese security document, exclusively reviewed by CNN, revealed that authorities are looking into a summer incident where they suspect China may be preparing for a "false flag" operation as a pretext for a potential military assault on Taiwan.
The incident occurred in July, when a Taiwanese newspaper with ties to Beijing falsely reported that the United States had directed Taiwan to create biological weapons targeted at the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
The unauthorized "meeting minutes" containing the unfounded discussions between high-ranking Taiwanese officials about the nonexistent project were then circulated to a local journalist, according to a security report.
Both Washington and Taipei deny the claim that Taiwan was developing biological weapons, stating that there is no evidence to support the allegations. In response, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office has initiated an investigation into the journalist for alleged forgery.
A Taiwanese security official informed CNN that they have strong confidence that Beijing was responsible for the falsified document, as it contained terms commonly used by the Chinese Communist Party but unfamiliar to Taiwan.
The false report caused outrage in mainland China, prompting the Chinese military to send over 100 warplanes into Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone over the next three days - a much larger number of incursions than usual.
"We see this as more than just spreading disinformation," stated a security official. "It appears that Beijing is testing how it could use disinformation as a pretext for military action, potentially targeting Taiwan under the pretense that the United States was planning to initiate a war against China."
The official mentioned that the intelligence community in Taiwan is concerned about the unusual mix of disinformation and increased military activity, fearing that Beijing may be preparing for a "false flag" operation to justify a potential military attack on Taiwan. The Taiwan Affairs Office of China did not respond to CNN's request for comment on the allegations of the fabricated document.
A campaign billboard featuring Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou on a bus in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg/Getty Images
News literacy
The increasing danger of disinformation and its potential impact on Taiwan's democracy has underscored the necessity for robust fact-checking mechanisms in Taiwan to empower citizens to dispel false information in their daily lives.
According to Chen Pei-huang, a senior journalist at the Taiwan FactCheck Center, their newsroom employs around twelve reporters, but they are overwhelmed by the large volume of false rumors being spread online.
"We believe it's crucial to not only fact-check information, but also to promote media literacy. When more people are able to question the authenticity of information, it becomes more difficult for rumors to spread. Apps like Auntie Meiyu can assist with this."
The chatbot on Line, unlike other fact-checking applications, can automatically scan messages in group chats and direct messages to warn of potentially misleading content, instead of requiring users to manually insert and verify text or website links. According to Cecile Chen, who runs the chatbot under Gogolook, a Taiwanese tech company, many users find it helpful as they may be uncomfortable correcting their parents or relatives directly. She also emphasized that the chatbot has an apolitical background.
Hsieh, a resident of Taoyuan city, shared that her elderly relatives now feel ashamed when Auntie Meiyu cautions them about the misleading information in their messages. Consequently, she mentioned that they have become more discerning in the messages they forward, taking into account their accuracy before sharing. "For my elderly relatives⦠if they can pause and question the accuracy of the information they receive, I believe this is already significant progress for them," Hsieh commented.
Chen, the fact-checking journalist, goes beyond just verifying online content. "Providing accurate information and statistics allows the public to understand that while we may disagree on various issues, our opinions should be based on solid evidence," he said.
