Saturday was a defining day in Taiwan's history. This autonomous island of 24 million people faces an important decision as it prepares to elect a new nation. president and congress.
The moment comes amid heightened tensions with China, led by Xi Jinping, which has become increasingly aggressive toward Taiwan and significantly strengthened its influence.
In the end, the party more supportive of Taiwan's formal independence from mainland China won. Lai Ching-de, the vice president of Taiwan's current president, Tsai Ing-wen, campaigned as the most independence-oriented candidate among the three candidates and received over 40% of the vote. Received multiple votes.
Chinese authorities had foreseen this outcome. Last week, Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang publicly pledged:crush” Taiwan's commitment to complete independence.
In the weeks leading up to Taiwan's election, leading candidates held raucous campaign rallies across the small island off China's east coast. In some ways, this was similar to American national elections. The candidates addressed cheering supporters. promise, mocked the opposition and moved the crowd — All of these are tangible evidence of Taiwan's vibrant and prosperous democracy.
However, a solemn presence loomed large over the election campaign. It is the Communist Party of China that rules mainland China.
In the run-up to Taiwan's presidential election, China massive disinformation campaignIt has a clear intention to cause chaos and make Taiwanese people question the legitimacy of their election.
This coordinated effort included widespread dissemination of news articles, deployment of chatbots on social media, and release of deepfake videos.
The disinformation campaign, allegedly orchestrated by China's Ministry of State Security, failed to prevent the party from winning the election. However, this raises serious concerns for the future about the integrity of the democratic process and how disinformation could undermine the country's political landscape.
It was published on the island by Taiwan's United Daily News in July last year. Posted a headline that grabbed attention: “Is the United States encouraging Taiwan to establish a biological weapons development laboratory?” This article was about releasing information about secret plans to develop biological weapons in Taiwan at the request of the United States. . This news spread widely throughout Taiwan, and was even forced into action by the US State Department in the United States. Publicly deny your account —The act of spreading the news further. However, this story was fake and part of a Chinese disinformation campaign.
The two likely candidates for the presidential election were Vice Chairman Li and Hou Youxi of the Nationalist Party. Mr. Lai was a candidate leaning toward independence from mainland China. The Xi administration expected Lai's victory and tried to damage his reputation.
The centerpiece of the disinformation campaign is a 300-page e-book titled “'' about Taiwan's outgoing president.The secret history of Tsai Ing-wen” was first published last month on Zenodo, an online open repository. This document is an astonishing attack on President Tsai and, by extension, Vice President Lai. The book portrays President Tsai as a sexually profligate, power-hungry, despicable and morally corrupt dictator.
The most persistent false claim pushed by Chinese bots involved the nationality of Lai's running mate, a former dual citizen of the United States and Taiwan.she He actually renounced his American citizenship in 2022., according to the IRS. However, chatbots on social media spread false claims that he was Lai's running mate. remain an American citizen Therefore, he is not eligible to hold public office.
The disinformation campaign included deepfake video Uses AI-generated narration and fake hosts. One such video showed President Tsai encouraging Taiwanese people to: buy cryptocurrency. These videos were spread across social media platforms and shared at breakneck speeds of up to 100 times per minute, which is impossible for real human users.
For months, Taiwanese officials have publicly blamed China for trying to darken their democratic election process. On the other hand, China has largely ignored the allegations of election interference and is calling the election “purely a domestic problem in China” Officially, China has refrained from recognizing the legitimacy of the vote.
In Taiwan and around the world, election integrity is being threatened by cutting-edge AI technology. Coordinated disinformation campaigns powered by chatbots threaten to distort our understanding of reality.
Chatbots, fake videos and rumors are ominous warnings ahead of a volatile year for the very concept of democracy. In 2024, nearly 100 of her countries, representing billions of people, will hold a record number of democratic elections. In this context, AI-generated audio and video deepfakes Powerful and innovative disinformation tools.
These tools, when combined with chatbots that can spread AI-generated content very quickly and widely, pose a significant risk of amplifying political disinformation and underselling the concept of democracy everywhere. Masu.
Joe Buccino is a retired U.S. Army colonel and an AI research analyst at the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Board. He served as Director of Communications for U.S. Central Command from 2021 to September 2023. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense or any other organization.
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