Internet celebrity Liu Yu (劉宇), fed up with accusations on the online bulletin board Professional Technology Temple (PTT) that he was part of a cyberarmy seeking to change public opinion, used his influence to crowdsource an investigation of the real identity of PTT user “kuloda,” the source of these accusations.
The investigation revealed the source to be Lin Yu-sheng (林育生) a department head in the Taipei Department of Transportation. Lin deleted the post — but not before his identity had been revealed — apologized to Liu and asked to be disciplined for posting on PTT during work hours.
The incident was an embarrassment to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who often uses the term “cyberarmy” to criticize others that post comments critical of him or his policies. Now, online commentators are using this incident to suggest that the Taipei City Government has been cultivating a cyberarmy of its own, and implicating Ko as the mastermind behind it all.
The term cyberarmy refers to a group of professionals with institutional backing that, whether for political or commercial reasons, manipulate social discourse, spread disinformation and perpetrate cyberattacks, sometimes with an arrangement for mutual gain, as with China’s so-called “50 Cent Army.”
Once the wider discourse has started going in a certain direction, many individuals jump on the bandwagon, but they are not part of a specialist organization, are not paid for their efforts and are essentially just venting, using a platform that they believe keeps their anonymity.
Such people can at best be termed “disgruntled citizens” or “keyboard warriors,” and are closer to China’s “little pinks.” To use the same label for these amateurs as for professional cyberarmies is to misunderstand the skills of the professionals who operate across national borders without leaving a trace. The Russian hackers that influenced the 2016 US presidential election have yet to be found.
The process of attributing meaning to terminology is one of the tools of political manipulation, and is done by reinterpreting, obfuscating or extending a term thought detrimental to oneself or an entity one is affiliated with, such that the original meaning of the term gradually disappears and someone must create another term to express the meaning of the term that was lost.
The muddying and expansion of the term “cyberarmy” is an example of this, leading to the reinterpretation, dilution and obfuscation of terms such as “fake news” and “fact-checking” so that they no longer represent what they were originally intended to represent. As a result, the term loses its power.
Lin has admitted to simply being someone with a predilection for posting comments online. He was not part of a cyberarmy.
Given the Taiwan People’s Party’s support base and ability to gather resources, it would be quite impressive if it could monitor online debate: Suggesting that it could cultivate a professional cyberarmy is a stretch too far.
The Taipei City Government spokesperson has said that anyone claiming the city government has a cyberarmy should reveal their evidence. By the same logic, Ko — with his national profile and control of the resources of the nation’s capital city — should provide evidence for the claims he makes during news conferences that his political foes using cyberarmies against him.
Labeling critics as being part of a cyberarmy might consolidate and even increase political support, but it also increases tensions. Cyberarmies are rare, and politicians should stop bandying the term about to accuse those critical of them or their policies.
Chang Yueh-han is a professor at Shih Hsin University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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