Facebook, Line, Yahoo-Kimo (雅虎奇摩) and Google, as well as the Professional Technology Temple online academic bulleting board and the Taipei Computer Association, yesterday ramped up their efforts to combat misinformation ahead of the elections in January next year.
In a joint statement, the social media platforms said that they have voluntarily signed a self-discipline pledge to intensify efforts to crack down on fake accounts and to contain the spread of misinformation.
The announcement came as social media platforms and online companies have faced a backlash from lawmakers worldwide for what many have perceived as insufficient efforts to contain the spread of misinformation in election campaigns.
Photo: Liao Chien-ying, Taipei Times
Facebook has been allocating resources to technologies and personnel to detect false news and reduce online misinformation, company official Chen I-Ju (陳奕儒) said in the joint statement.
The company has been promoting news literacy among the public, Chen said.
Google said that it has arranged a series of activities over the past years to combat online misinformation, with the aim of increasing news literacy and promoting online security among the public, as well as boosting the company’s fact-checking efforts.
Yahoo-Kimo said that it has collected more than 2,200 high-quality articles from about 200 news outlets to provide diverse viewpoints, adding that it has worked with partners to improve fact-checking efforts.
A report released through V-Dem’s Digital Society Project found that Taiwan has been exposed to misleading viewpoints or misinformation disseminated by foreign governments and their agents more often than any other nation, Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said in the statement.
The government would work with the private sector to fight misinformation, Lo said.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
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RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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