Eve Chiu, a 59-year-old veteran Taiwanese journalist, has a lot on her plate these days. He heads the Taiwan FactCheck Center, an organization that aims to uncover hoaxes and fake news on the island. In the elections taking place this Saturday, the web of misinformation in the fog of social media has become “overwhelming,” he says. To the point that you start not knowing what is true and what is not. Doubt your senses. And we are no longer talking about “traditional” fake news, Chiu added during an interview on Wednesday in Taipei, but about the so-called “deep fakes” (something like “ultrafakes”), which are generated and spread with the help of artificial intelligence Speed of lightning from phone to phone. But he thinks it's better not to tell, but to see an example.
Show the following video: Rob Wittman, U.S. Congressman and member of the Armed Services Committee, is seen during a television interview. A sign in Chinese says he is “publicly promoting the DPP,” the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the party that tops Taiwan's polls and is the least popular option in Beijing. China, which views the self-governing island as an inalienable part of its territory and classifies the elections as a choice between “war and peace,” sees the PPD as a dangerous pro-independence group that could lead to conflict.
The video, which appeared on TikTok and from there made its way to Taiwanese social networks, rubs salt into this wound. Wittman talks about this party's candidates for president and vice president: If Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim won, he says, “the United States would expedite all arms sales to Taiwan and bring in American military personnel with combat experience to support them.” “Send Taiwan training and would invite the Taiwanese army to train in the United States to strengthen self-defense capabilities.”
Eve Chiu, director of the Taiwan FactCheck Center. William April
The cut is flawless. The voice matches the lips perfectly. But it's not real. “Now I’ll show you the original,” Chiu says, showing the same cut, but in this different one, the congressman talks about energy independence and fertilizer prices. Nothing to see. That was from last year, says the journalist. “And the fake from a few weeks ago.” The video wanted to have a direct impact on the elections. He doesn't know the origin. Not even who did it. Only it appeared on TikTok and from there it made its way to Taiwanese social networks.
According to the Swedish Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, which produces a report every year on the state of democracies, Taiwan has led all other countries in the world for ten years in a row in the amount of misinformation spread by other governments in them , exceeded their limits. This is also stated by the Taiwanese government. Joseph Wu, the island's foreign minister, denounced in an appearance before the international press on Wednesday that disinformation campaigns are one of China's many interference tactics in its democratic process, a strategy in which they move from the military threat to the “unpleasant” political one Statements. “Disinformation is intended to polarize our society, undermine institutions and weaken our democracy. And we have seen some successes from China in this regard,” Vincent Chao, director of international affairs for the ruling party and spokesman for Lai Ching-te’s presidential campaign, said on Wednesday during an interview with EL PAÍS.
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Mao Ning, China's foreign spokesman, denied the allegations on Thursday. “The elections in the Taiwan region are purely internal affairs of China, which do not allow external interference,” she said when asked about Washington's demands to refrain from interference.
Chiu, dressed in a vest and wearing a Parisian-style beret, realizes that this is an unequal fight. In their organization with 16 employees, they manage to uncover between 60 and 80 false reports and the like every month. Part of the funding comes from Meta (Facebook's parent company) and Google. They do not receive any money from any government. They receive complaints about their followers. And they get to work if it meets certain criteria (public interest, distribution, harm to society). The focus is not exclusively on China, but it is inevitable to address related issues.
The Doublethink Lab organization focuses on the People's Republic. “Currently, China is uploading 200 YouTube channels every day to spread disinformation and denounce Taiwan and our government,” said Puma Shen, 41, president of Doublethink Lab and founder of Kuma Academy, a nonprofit civil defense organization that trains people in first aid. Evacuations in the event of conflict and media literacy to combat misinformation. In addition, Shen is on the DPP lists for the Legislative Yuan (Parliament).
In his opinion, the results of the Taiwanese elections are an opportunity for Beijing to assess the success of its campaigns regarding Taiwan. “It’s really not about which candidate you want to support.” [Pekín], but to create division within our society and make people not believe in democracy,” he says. Many of the videos, he explains, aim to convey the feeling that China is friendly to Taiwan while other countries such as Japan and the United States are not.
Puma Shen, President of DoubleThink Lab and Founder of Kuma Academy.Guillermo Abril
A Western mother living in Taiwan who is married to a Taiwanese man says she was recently surprised when her eldest daughter, 11, responded to a video on TikTok titled “The truth is that the PDP doesn't tell you.” pushed. The algorithm had selected a cut showing a Chinese child reading a poem in a textbook. The verses are about a boat that goes to Taiwan to pick up children and take them to a school in China to play. “Mom, why should we get Taiwanese children and bring them to visit?” the son asks. “Because Taiwanese children are our family. We don't just want Taiwanese children to visit us. We also want all Taiwanese to come. They have been separated from our extended family for a long time. “They miss home.” The Western mother believes the video is specifically aimed at school-age children. “Interestingly, there are a lot of responses in the comments section like 'No thanks!' I don't want to go back home!'”
For Eva Chiu of the Taiwan FactCheck Center, the worst thing about misinformation is the feeling of being grounded; When reality disappears, there is no longer any basis “for debate, for discussion, for dialogue,” he says. He then shows another example: a screenshot that was circulated on networks and appears to be from the website of Radio France Internationale, a respected French public radio station. “It’s very interesting,” he says. “Completely false,” even though it seems “very real.” It alleges that Taiwan's outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen secretly sent thousands of projectiles to help Israel in the Gaza war. “She is trying to spread the idea that she is an instigator of war.” Which has a very concrete reading on this side of the world, where superpowers collide. Extremely sensitive. According to her, she is trying to inoculate an idea: “If you vote for the PDP, you will have war,” says Chiu.
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