Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have proposed amendments to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) to define “cognitive warfare” and empower countermeasures against foreign influence.
“Doubts about the US” and “doubts about the military” are recurring manufactured narratives used by the Chinese Communist Party, the National Security Bureau said earlier this year.
DPP lawmakers such as Lin I-chin (林宜瑾), Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) and Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) jointly proposed draft amendments to articles 3, 5 and 13-1 of the act that would define “cognitive warfare” as “the act of foreign or hostile forces using artificial intelligence [AI], information technology, or other means to spread false or misleading information, with the intent to disrupt government functions, social stability or the constitutional order of freedom and democracy.”
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Intelligence work might include preventing the use of AI in cognitive warfare, generating false information or manipulating public opinion, the amendment for Article 5 said.
Intelligence agencies might also have to use AI to analyze threats, provided that the data is anonymous, it added.
The use of AI would be regulated to ensure that it does not infringe on people’s rights, the draft said, adding that the guidelines would be established by competent authorities in consultation with intelligence agencies.
The intelligence authority should regularly organize AI and digital security training to enhance the capability of intelligence personnel in countering cognitive warfare, the draft said.
Critical information is largely controlled by Internet service providers, so without their cooperation, intelligence agencies would have difficulty in quickly identifying abnormal information flows and recognizing cognitive warfare activities, making it challenging to effectively identify and respond to threats, it said.
Therefore, “businesses providing Internet services should cooperate by offering necessary assistance within the scope required to safeguard national security interests when intelligence agencies are carrying out intelligence work,” it said, adding that the details and procedures for such cooperation would be established by the competent authorities.
If a service provider becomes aware that foreign hostile forces are using its platform to carry out cognitive warfare, they should, upon notification from intelligence agencies, provide related data and algorithm parameters, and undertake countermeasures such as restricting access or removing content to block the activity, the draft said.
Foreign hostile forces are employing “hybrid warfare,” using AI to generate vast amounts of realistic misinformation, and engaging in “data pollution” and “cognitive manipulation” to target nations, it said.
The impact of these tactics is as significant as traditional military attacks, it said, adding that to effectively counter digital cognitive warfare, intelligence agencies must be equipped with a solid legal foundation.
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