The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) yesterday inaugurated the Cognitive Warfare Research Center dedicated to studying the threat of online disinformation to Taiwan’s democracy and security.
Foreign hostile forces produced and disseminated forged videos, fabricated news and doctored images to stir up controversy to influence the outcome of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, MJIB Director-General Wang Chun-li (王俊力) said at the bureau’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).
Methods to combat these new forms of computer-based information warfare are needed, after the nation came under escalating attacks in recent months with disinformation about government policies, national defense, foreign affairs and cross-strait relations, as well as issues relating to the economy and people’s livelihoods, Wang said.
Photo courtesy of the Investigation Bureau
The materials were created by cyberarmies and content farms, then circulated on social media and messaging platforms via trolls, zombie accounts and online influencers, Wang said.
“People have reported that they mainly targeted government agencies, political parties, and certain officials and legislators, using defamation and smear tactics to mislead the public, sow doubt and erode public confidence in the government,” he added.
The new center combines the resources and professional expertise of the MJIB’s Information Security, Cross-Strait Research and Internal Security Investigation units, Wang said.
“Taiwan has experienced more intense and frequent attacks by foreign hostile forces, aiming to subvert Taiwan’s democracy, undermine trust in the government, and enhancing threats and dangers to national security,” Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said in his address.
The center is composed of three divisions: data compilation and research, analysis of cognitive warfare targeting Taiwan and a swift response unit to combat fake news, Wang said.
Cyberexperts will constantly monitor data to root out fake and zombie accounts, work in real time to contact proprietors of social media platforms to remove fake news and videos, and publish statements to inform the public.
Separately, the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday confirmed that it had set up a communication channel with TikTok and had reported 33 suspected fabricated videos related to the elections.
CEC officials added that they have filed for judicial investigation of 25 videos alleging voter fraud to cast doubt on the election outcome.
These videos have been doctored and provide no concrete proof of election rigging, the CEC said, adding that representatives from major parties and media outlets were present during the vote count.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Statebuilding Party leader Wang Hsin-huan (王興煥) blasted the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “ostrich hiding its head in the sand” approach to fake news and cyberattacks from China.
“Over the years, we have repeatedly warned the DPP government about China’s expansion and growing influence in using TikTok videos and social media platforms to destabilize Taiwan’s democracy, create social strife and sow division within Taiwan,” Wang Hsin-huan said.
“Unfortunately, our sound warnings and requests to ban TikTok and Chinese-based social media and messaging apps went unheeded. We saw the Ministry of Digital Affairs and its head, Audrey Tang (唐鳳), the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Culture and even our national security agencies faced such grave danger with a lax attitude ... taking no action on these serious threats to our nation,” he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS