Hsu Che-pin (許哲賓), a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) employee who allegedly helped online commentator Lin Yu-hong (林裕紘) fake death threats, was found to control more than 1,000 accounts on Facebook, a source close to the investigation said on Wednesday.
The two men earlier this month were put in pre-trial detention following Lin’s public admission that he pretended to have received death threats for criticizing the government’s handling of egg shortages on his Facebook page “Lin Bay Hao You” (Lin Bay 好油).
His announcement sparked a public furor, as then-minister of agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) resigned due to backlash against the government’s egg import program.
Photo: Taipei Times
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) that the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office is broadening its probe, as the scale indicates that Hsu was a middling member of an organized campaign to spread disinformation.
Credentials for the accounts were found on Hsu’s phone and laptop, indicating that he exercised control over them, the source said.
Investigators believe it unlikely that Hsu managed the accounts alone and probably utilized the services of professional trolls while acting under orders, they said.
Facebook owner Meta has been purging fake accounts from the site since 2020, meaning Hsu’s accounts were carefully maintained to appear authentic, the source said.
According to local media, Hsu was formerly a member of the KMT Policy Committee, spokesman of former legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) and social media manager of Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善).
Hsu later founded Ou Lou Yin Creativity, a public relations firm offering services to businesses and political figures. The company’s Web site was taken down following his arrest.
Asked by lawmakers to comment on the matter during an interpellation, Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Chang Tou-hui (張斗輝) said that the inquiry is ongoing and that a separate probe is to be launched into the leak of information to the press.
The investigation is expected to be completed in less than a month, he said.
Prosecutors declined to comment on Hsu’s alleged ownership of the accounts, but said the investigation is moving toward the assumption that the suspect was part of a conspiracy to disseminate disinformation.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) accused the KMT of being “the biggest organization sowing chaos in Taiwan” and demanded its leadership explain its role in the “hoax.”
The DPP believes it is extremely unlikely that Hsu’s online activities were conducted without the knowledge of KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗), who is executive officer of the party’s policy committee, he said.
An ordinary party worker would not have the resources or ability to control that many accounts without funding and direction from a larger entity, Chang Chih-hao said, adding that the KMT had been complicit in smearing the government with false news reports.
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