The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) yesterday inaugurated the Cognitive Warfare Research Center dedicated to studying the threat of online disinformation to Taiwan’s democracy and security.
Foreign hostile forces produced and disseminated forged videos, fabricated news and doctored images to stir up controversy to influence the outcome of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, MJIB Director-General Wang Chun-li (王俊力) said at the bureau’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).
Methods to combat these new forms of computer-based information warfare are needed, after the nation came under escalating attacks in recent months with disinformation about government policies, national defense, foreign affairs and cross-strait relations, as well as issues relating to the economy and people’s livelihoods, Wang said.
Photo courtesy of the Investigation Bureau
The materials were created by cyberarmies and content farms, then circulated on social media and messaging platforms via trolls, zombie accounts and online influencers, Wang said.
“People have reported that they mainly targeted government agencies, political parties, and certain officials and legislators, using defamation and smear tactics to mislead the public, sow doubt and erode public confidence in the government,” he added.
The new center combines the resources and professional expertise of the MJIB’s Information Security, Cross-Strait Research and Internal Security Investigation units, Wang said.
“Taiwan has experienced more intense and frequent attacks by foreign hostile forces, aiming to subvert Taiwan’s democracy, undermine trust in the government, and enhancing threats and dangers to national security,” Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said in his address.
The center is composed of three divisions: data compilation and research, analysis of cognitive warfare targeting Taiwan and a swift response unit to combat fake news, Wang said.
Cyberexperts will constantly monitor data to root out fake and zombie accounts, work in real time to contact proprietors of social media platforms to remove fake news and videos, and publish statements to inform the public.
Separately, the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday confirmed that it had set up a communication channel with TikTok and had reported 33 suspected fabricated videos related to the elections.
CEC officials added that they have filed for judicial investigation of 25 videos alleging voter fraud to cast doubt on the election outcome.
These videos have been doctored and provide no concrete proof of election rigging, the CEC said, adding that representatives from major parties and media outlets were present during the vote count.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Statebuilding Party leader Wang Hsin-huan (王興煥) blasted the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “ostrich hiding its head in the sand” approach to fake news and cyberattacks from China.
“Over the years, we have repeatedly warned the DPP government about China’s expansion and growing influence in using TikTok videos and social media platforms to destabilize Taiwan’s democracy, create social strife and sow division within Taiwan,” Wang Hsin-huan said.
“Unfortunately, our sound warnings and requests to ban TikTok and Chinese-based social media and messaging apps went unheeded. We saw the Ministry of Digital Affairs and its head, Audrey Tang (唐鳳), the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Culture and even our national security agencies faced such grave danger with a lax attitude ... taking no action on these serious threats to our nation,” he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS