Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem).
The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said.
After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, Bloomberg
Each country listed in the report was given a score, and the lower the score, the greater the impact of disinformation was in that country, said National Cheng Kung University associate professor Wang Yi-ting (王奕婷), who participated in the study.
Taiwan’s score of 0.092 was the lowest among all countries listed, and was similar to its score last year, she said.
Countries such as Latvia, Belarus, Palestine and Israel also ranked high on the list of countries affected by disinformation because of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, and attempts by certain actors to control the narrative on those conflicts, she said.
This year, China rose from sixth place to fourth on the list of countries that spread disinformation to the outside world, while Russia ranked ninth, placing in the top 10 for a second year in a row.
“Hong Kong has also risen on the list in recent years, particularly since 2018 when China began to tighten controls over the city,” Wang said.
National Changhua University of Education professor Liu Chao-lung (劉兆隆) said that disinformation targeting Taiwan — much like other international challenges facing the nation — originates almost exclusively in China.
“This disinformation aims to make the international community question Taiwan’s determination to resist an attack from China, which would affect the resolve of foreign powers to provide Taiwan with aid in the event of such an attack,” he said.
Taiwanese must be made aware of the threat of cognitive warfare, and be urged to refrain from spreading disinformation, he said.
Sky Fung (馮詔天), secretary-general of the Taiwan-based exile group Hong Kong Outlanders, said that the Chinese Communist Party also spreads propaganda about China’s progress and freedom, which misleads young people in Taiwan.
For example, disinformation spread in Taiwan following Hong Kong’s passage of Article 23 of the Basic Law aimed to convince Taiwanese that about 90 percent of Hong Kongers supported it, Fung said.
“At the same time there were a large number of negative remarks about Taiwan purportedly made by Hong Kong people that aimed to sow division between Hong Kong and Taiwan,” he said. “Taiwan must learn from these experiences and remain vigilant regarding such propaganda.”
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS