Hsu Che-pin (許哲賓), a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) employee who allegedly helped online commentator Lin Yu-hong (林裕紘) fake death threats, was found to control more than 1,000 accounts on Facebook, a source close to the investigation said on Wednesday.
The two men earlier this month were put in pre-trial detention following Lin’s public admission that he pretended to have received death threats for criticizing the government’s handling of egg shortages on his Facebook page “Lin Bay Hao You” (Lin Bay 好油).
His announcement sparked a public furor, as then-minister of agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) resigned due to backlash against the government’s egg import program.
Photo: Taipei Times
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) that the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office is broadening its probe, as the scale indicates that Hsu was a middling member of an organized campaign to spread disinformation.
Credentials for the accounts were found on Hsu’s phone and laptop, indicating that he exercised control over them, the source said.
Investigators believe it unlikely that Hsu managed the accounts alone and probably utilized the services of professional trolls while acting under orders, they said.
Facebook owner Meta has been purging fake accounts from the site since 2020, meaning Hsu’s accounts were carefully maintained to appear authentic, the source said.
According to local media, Hsu was formerly a member of the KMT Policy Committee, spokesman of former legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) and social media manager of Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善).
Hsu later founded Ou Lou Yin Creativity, a public relations firm offering services to businesses and political figures. The company’s Web site was taken down following his arrest.
Asked by lawmakers to comment on the matter during an interpellation, Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Chang Tou-hui (張斗輝) said that the inquiry is ongoing and that a separate probe is to be launched into the leak of information to the press.
The investigation is expected to be completed in less than a month, he said.
Prosecutors declined to comment on Hsu’s alleged ownership of the accounts, but said the investigation is moving toward the assumption that the suspect was part of a conspiracy to disseminate disinformation.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) accused the KMT of being “the biggest organization sowing chaos in Taiwan” and demanded its leadership explain its role in the “hoax.”
The DPP believes it is extremely unlikely that Hsu’s online activities were conducted without the knowledge of KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗), who is executive officer of the party’s policy committee, he said.
An ordinary party worker would not have the resources or ability to control that many accounts without funding and direction from a larger entity, Chang Chih-hao said, adding that the KMT had been complicit in smearing the government with false news reports.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at