before the presidential election in Taiwan, disinformation is in full swing

A few hours before this crucial election, the Taiwanese authorities accuse Beijing of being at the origin of the proliferation of false information targeting supporters of independence.

This video, which is currently circulating on social networks in Taiwan, looks like a real television news show with its studio and a very professional-looking journalist. But Taiwanese analysts who track fake news on the networks did not take long to realize that this news is completely false. The presenter does not exist but was generated by artificial intelligence.

A few hours before the presidential election which is to be held on Saturday January 13 in Taiwan, false information is multiplying on the internet and on social networks. Since the start of the electoral campaign, this type of content has become very frequent, with messages that most of the time attack supporters of independence.

China accused of being behind this false information

False information that the Taiwanese authorities attribute to China, which is accused of wanting to interfere in the choice of voters. Among this false information, a video explains, for example, that outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen betrayed Taiwan because her family collaborated with the Japanese.

For Hung Kuo Chun, of the Watch Out organization which monitors this disinformation, there are very clear indications that China is behind certain messages. “We can observe it through small things. For example, here in Taiwan we use traditional Chinese characters while China uses the simplified Chinese characters that we can see in messages. There is also in the terminology in the choice of certain words. In this case there is a good chance that these are messages coming from China”he explains.

More than 10,000 contents considered as Chinese interference identified by an NGO

The goal is to influence voters and destabilize Taiwanese democracy. For Ching Yang, of the NGO Doublethink lab, which identifies Chinese interference in Taiwan, there is a real risk. “I think this type of video can have influence on some Taiwanese. The content is very rich, there is a mix between local news and Chinese opinions. For those who don’t follow politics too much, like the younger generation, it is possible that there is confusion”affirms this specialist.

Messages which, indeed, destabilize young Taiwanese voters. “I’ve seen fake news online and talked about it with my friends. Usually, based on how many times the news is mentioned, it means it should be true.”judges one of them.

Since the start of the electoral campaign, Doublethink lab analysts have already listed more than 10,000 pieces of content and videos considered to be Chinese interference in the presidential election.