A party committee is to be set up to combat disinformation after false reports targeting Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and other lawmakers circulated on social media, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said on Thursday.
“There have been waves of malicious, fabricated insinuations against Lai these past few days, showing the current disinformation campaign is very sinister,” DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said.
“Most of them are personal attacks and obviously false. They are contrived political schemes aimed at deliberately disseminating false rumors,” Chang said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“We are gathering evidence to take legal action and put a stop to these detestable tactics,” he said.
Lai, who is also DPP chairman, on Wednesday registered to run as a candidate in the party’s presidential primary for next year’s election.
However, fake news started to appear on social media after his announcement, Chang said.
A “working group to combat cognitive warfare” would be set up and overseen by DPP deputy secretary-general Huang Chien-chia (黃建嘉), he said.
Clarity of information would be provided through graphics, short videos and messages to swiftly communicate with the public, he said.
“We have to respond quickly and shed light on fabricated information and rumors that come from unknown sources,” Chang said.
When fake news and disinformation accumulates, some people start to believe it is real, and deceit can displace the truth, he added.
One rumor circulating alleges that Lai’s eldest son gained an electrical engineering degree in the US, started work there and got married, obtaining US permanent residency.
However, although Lai’s eldest son graduated in the US and has been working for a company there, he does not have permanent residency or citizenship of any other country, Chang said, adding that Lai’s son plans to return to live and work in Taiwan.
Lai’s second son works in Taiwan and also does not have permanent residency in the US, he added.
The disinformation about Lai’s son having permanent residency in the US has allowed some people to say that Lai would be an unreliable presidential candidate, saying that if China were to invade Taiwan, he would flee to the US, Chang said.
“When he became party chairman, Lai clearly stated that his aim is to pursue peace — which is the consensus across the Taiwan Strait — and that he has three core principles: to defend Taiwan’s democracy, safeguard peace and prosperity, and not change the ‘status quo’ of security and stability in the region,” Chang said.
More fake news targeted Lai’s wife, alleging that she receives triple the salary of other employees at her job at Taiwan Power Co.
However, Lai’s wife got the job by passing the civil service exams, just like any other employee, and she is on the same pay scale for her position as other workers, Chang said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS