A set of studies released on Monday by the Computational Propaganda Research Project on the use of automated processes to manipulate public opinion has gained international media attention largely because of its findings that a staggering number of Russian-language Twitter accounts are automated bots disseminating pro-Putin messages.
Autocratic governments that manipulate the media and public opinion to curtail political discussion and opposition is nothing new, but new media offer a plethora of tools governments, political and social groups and individuals can use to manipulate and disseminate information.
The issue of such manipulation has been of growing concern for many years, long before last year’s US presidential election saw the term “fake news” thrown around with abandon.
However, even a cursory reading of the nine studies released by the Oxford University-based project clearly shows that Internet-based campaigns pose a threat to democracy.
Far from becoming a tool for democratization — a hope spurred by the use of Twitter and other platforms to rally opposition to abusive governments during the Arab Spring — social media have instead been co-opted by authoritarian regimes, political factions, hate groups and trolls to limit access to accurate information and abuse their opponents.
The studies found that traditional propagandist misinformation is not only widespread online, but is actually being supported by the algorithms used by platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Nicholas Monaco’s study on Taiwan titled Computational Propaganda in Taiwan: Where Digital Democracy Meets Automated Autocracy found that computational propaganda was heavily used in political campaigns, as well as mass-messaging and trolling campaigns from across the Taiwan Strait.
However, on the positive side, it found that “benevolent” political bots are being used to combat “fake news” on Line and other social media platforms.
Monaco mentioned Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang’s (唐鳳) plan to introduce information technology and media literacy classes in schools next year to help students learn to distinguish rumors and falsehoods from facts.
His study also highlighted the 2014 Taipei mayoral election and the success of what it calls Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) “transformative digital campaign” compared with the efforts of his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival, Sean Lien (連勝文).
The Ko campaign created a crawler bot to collect information from Facebook that was then used to tailor messages and advertising for different groups, as well as to determine voters’ reactions in real time to events such as missteps by political novice Ko.
On Lien’s side, the study found that “cyberarmy” tactics were used to post messages that were either pro-Lien or critical of Ko on Professional Technology Temple, the nation’s most popular online bulletin board.
Monaco also mentioned, but did not investigate, the use of high-volume messaging in the campaigns for and against same-sex marriage.
He concluded that digital platforms will play an increasingly important role in Taiwanese politics, which makes it all the more crucial that Tang’s educational programs are well thought out and implemented effectively.
The 35-year-old minister’s computer and entrepreneurial background make her uniquely equipped to lead such an effort.
As Tang herself has said, the issue is not so much about being able to identify “fake news,” as it is the ability to make well-informed decisions that are not based on rumors.
If Tang’s courses prove successful, it would be another area in which the government could provide assistance to the nation’s diplomatic allies and others.
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