The National Security Bureau (NSB) today said it has found more than 1,200 TikTok and YouTube videos mostly from overseas accounts discussing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson election, prompting the Executive Yuan to review legal measures to counter foreign interference in elections.
KMT heavyweight and former Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) on Monday said that most videos on TikTok and YouTube show strong support for specific candidates and come from accounts registered just before the KMT launched its chairperson election.
Jaw called on national security agencies to investigate foreign interference in the election.
Photo: CNA
NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) spoke to reporters this morning before a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Tsai said that the bureau has started investigating the circulation of relevant videos online, looking for possible foreign interference in the election.
The bureau found more than 1,000 TikTok videos discussing the KMT chair election, as well as 23 YouTube accounts that have published about 200 related videos, Tsai said.
He said that more than half of the 23 YouTube accounts were registered overseas, but did not specify where.
Tsai also said he would not discuss which candidate the videos support to avoid influencing the election.
While investigating, the NSB found that there are insufficient legal tools to address the issue, as neither the National Security Act (國家安全法) nor Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) have provisions regarding foreign forces infiltrating domestic associations or political party elections, Tsai said.
The Executive Yuan has already held multiple interministerial meetings to discuss how to strengthen relevant national security legislation, he said, adding that the NSB gave advice during these meetings.
Tsai said he hopes all political parties would discuss the legislation upon its proposal to effectively strengthen the national security framework and provide a more complete legal foundation for digital governance.
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