Officials are concerned about Chinese disinformation on social media aimed at impacting Taiwan’s presidential election on Saturday. That was the subject of a New York Times article on Monday.
The article said that Taiwan’s freewheeling democracy offers a good environment for the spread of fake news. In the past, China has tried to impact Taiwan elections with military threats. However, these threats backfired. Now, it’s using the popularity of social media to sway public opinion instead.
In recent months, Facebook has spotted many incidences of fake news targeting Taiwan. Last May, the National Security Bureau issued an assessment of Chinese-backed disinformation campaigns. The New York Times article says that by the time fake news is discovered, it has already infiltrated society.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Google, and Line have tried to monitor disinformation while the government and civic groups are also on their guard against fake news. The article cited the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, which says that China aims to undermine confidence in Taiwan’s democratic systems, just as Russia has tried to do in the US.