Hsiao Bi-khim (Hsiao, Vice President of Taiwan)

Taiwan is a free society.

We cherish the freedom of speech, the freedom of the media, and China is taking advantage of that.

So they are widely using social media platforms to amplify their messages.

They are also actively targeting

civic groups.

They selectively invite groups, fees paid to China, to try to get them on their side to support the amplification of their narratives in our civil society.

They are also working with influencers in Taiwan.

the marketers in Taiwan to amplify their views.

They have many tools in their toolbox, and it's not easy to be as pervasive and sophisticated in countering that, or as systematic as they are.

But we have no choice but to continue to find ways to fortify public confidence in our democracy, public confidence in defending our values and what's important for us.

Well, there was a time, especially during elections, disinformation campaigns are particularly rampant.

There was a time when we sought partnerships with these major international social media platforms to support fact-checking programs, but also to make

transparent some of the advertising, and especially if it involves advertising or amplifying political or campaign-related messages, we have required a degree of transparency, like who's paying for these ads, and that the citizens should have a right to know that.

Organizations are more cooperative than others in terms of setting up these mechanisms, but it's a constant struggle to catch up with all of the new tools that they are using to weaken our unity, our cohesion, and public confidence.

I think it's an evolving learning process, but I can say from my own experience that I used to be a member of Congress here and kind of more in the grassroots.

We did so much media literacy, educational work, and reminders that there's a lot of disinformation out there.

eventually, my supporters and constituents would start sending me news articles and say, is this real or is this fake?

I think minimally, you have this awareness that fake news is potentially out there.

We need to verify or double-check whether I should be their source of checking or others.

That's why we have many NGOs that support a more politically independent fact-checking