Authorities have accused Chinese Internet trolls of sowing panic over COVID-19, with much of the disinformation falsely implying that the nation has an out-of-control epidemic.
Police said that they are investigating a surge in stories spreading online and through social media claiming that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is trying to cover up an outbreak.
“We suspect that Chinese Internet trolls are making up and spreading the false messages based on the content and the phrases,” the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“The intent is to cause misunderstanding among the public and to sow panic to seriously jeopardize our social stability,” it added.
Tsai took to Facebook to warn people against believing rumors.
While she did not mention China by name, she hinted at linguistic clues suggesting that much of the misinformation was being written outside of Taiwan.
“Some of the rumors even contain phrases not used in Taiwan,” she wrote.
The nation moved swiftly against the virus, quickly restricting and then banning arrivals from China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The outbreak in China has only added to tensions between Taiwan and China.
The nation has long been a target for Chinese nationalist Internet trolls seeking to undermine public faith in Tsai’s administration.
Analysts have said that trolls have gotten better over the past few years at deploying traditional Chinese and Taiwanese phrasing, but much of the misinformation on the virus appears to be more rudimentary.
One example given by the bureau was a false social media message claiming to be written by the child of a Democratic Progressive Party legislator, saying that Taipei “dares not disclose more than 500 infections and 200 deaths.”
Another false message claimed that the administration of “Governor Tsai” — a term used by people in China to refer to the president — is covering up the cremation of bodies, the bureau said.
The Taiwan FactCheck Center — an independent organization that debunks misinformation — said that there has been a surge in false posts deploying simplified Chinese characters or phrases commonly used in China.
“New variants of such disinformation keep coming out to spread falsehoods in an attempt to create panic,” the center wrote. “We urge readers not to forward these messages, but to verify and discredit them.”
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS