Disinformation campaigns have become more difficult to track and identify as they evolve into video form, Oxford University Internet Institute director Philip Howard said yesterday.
As more young people switch from Facebook and Twitter to platforms that favor videos — such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok — more disinformation can be found on the latter, Howard said in his keynote speech at the “Fake News Directing Information Warfare? Focus on Social Media From Global Vision” forum in Taipei, which was organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and National Taiwan University.
While such video platforms tend to have less political content, disinformation campaigns usually only target them when elections are approachi ng with the aim of influencing voters, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Unlike disinformation in articles, which can be identified with software, disinformation in videos is more difficult to identify and requires people who understand the language, he said.
“In the last few months, China has emerged as a superpower in disinformation,” Howard said.
In addition to meddling in Taiwan’s elections, China has been found to have spread false news reports about the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong in various languages on social media, he said.
Since 2017, the number of countries that use computational propaganda to manipulate public opinion has more than doubled to about 70, while political parties in at least 45 democracies have been found to have manipulated information to garner support, he said.
Some countries hire hackers or students to spread disinformation, and even hold “forums” on organizing disinformation campaigns, he said.
Chinese cybertroops collect personal information and preferences on WeChat and TikTok to help select targets for their disinformation campaigns, said Puma Shen (沈伯洋), an assistant professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology.
Titus Chen (陳至潔), an associate professor at National Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute of Political Science, said that Chinese disinformation campaigns in Taiwan are usually conducted through “patriotic” commercial media that follow the tone set by Beijing.
However, because the Chinese government does not properly understand Taiwanese, its disinformation campaigns usually backfire, Chen said.
Nonetheless, the nation needs to be on guard against its own people who collaborate with Chinese propagandists, because collaborators would know their compatriots well, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique