This is a summary of the report commissioned by Thomson on AI Disinformation Attacks during Taiwans 2024 Presidential Elections, written by Professor Chen-ling Hung from National Taiwan University.
In the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party won an unprecedented third term with candidate Lai Ching-te securing 40% of votes.
Despite being targeted by foreign disinformation, Taiwan successfully combatted these attacks, showcasing resilience against external interference.
This report examines the role of generative AI in spreading disinformation during the election, and the efforts by citizen groups and newsrooms to debunk it.
It analyses the themes and impacts of AI-generated disinformation on Taiwan's internal dynamics and regional relations. The response of Taiwanese media and civil organisations to Chinese disinformation is also discussed.
Finally, the report offers conclusions and recommendations for newsrooms and fact-checking organisations, highlighting the importance of media literacy and potential drawbacks of current strategies in the broader news-public information ecosystem.
Blurring fact and fiction In the 2024 election, disinformation was analysed through second-hand data from news, government documents, and citizen organisations like the Taiwan FactCheck Center, IORG, and Taiwan AI Labs. These groups worked to counter Chinese intervention and AI-generated disinformation. Disinformation was categorised into AI-fabricated content, misleading narratives, and coordinated behaviour.
The AI-generated fake audio and video that appeared in this election mainly targeted politicians and their private lives.
The major themes of misleading narratives include government policies, cross-strait relations, and suspicion of the US. Coordinated behaviours were observed in the behaviour of information, sending mainly a large number of fake accounts systematically creating or disseminating disinformation.
We found that AI's role in disinformation involved blurring fact and fiction, generating vast amounts of false information, and creating sophisticated deepfakes, challenging traditional fact-checking and necessitating new solutions in digital literacy and technology. While not significantly impacting immediate public discourse or political decisions, disinformation influenced long-term discussions on national identity and global geopolitics.
AI's role in disinformation involved blurring fact and fiction, generating vast amounts of false information, and creating sophisticated deepfakes.
Chen-ling Hung, Professor, Graduate Institute of Journalism, National Taiwan University.
Combating disinformation We also examined how Taiwanese media combated disinformation, which involved interviews with five major news organisations: Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS), Central News Agency (CNA), Radio Taiwan International (RTI), Formosa Television (FTV) and TVBS Media.
The public and government-subsidised media like PTS, CNA, and RTI demonstrated a strong commitment to authentic news, using advanced technology and various strategies influenced by different political affiliations.
However, commercial media like FTV and TVBS, in spite of their efforts in maintaining journalistic standards and representing diverse political perspectives, struggled more with disinformation due to political biases and profit motives. These channels, especially their online counterparts, faced challenges in verification processes, vulnerability to AI-generated disinformation, and pressures to align with or oppose certain narratives. This highlights the complex nature of combating disinformation and emphasises the need for collective action and collaboration among media, government, technology platforms, and the public.
Strengthening internal fact-checking and establishing comprehensive frameworks for information verification and education are crucial for media independence, credibility, and democratic development.
Legal measures, platform collaboration, and civil society efforts This report concludes that Taiwan combated disinformation during the election through legal measures, platform collaboration and civil society efforts.
Despite these efforts, challenges remain in addressing disinformation on digital platforms and social media. The final remarks include recommendations for multi-stakeholders:
Proactive Government Action: Enhance legislation against spreading rumors and fake videos, and develop mechanisms to counter infiltration activities funded by foreign forces.
Accountability for Digital and Traditional Media: Implement fact-checking obligations for mainstream media and close loopholes in online platform regulation.
Strengthening Civil Society: Increase collaboration across sectors to improve the ability of civic groups to counter AI disinformation.
Comprehensive Research: Study the circulation and impact of disinformation on national identity and international perspectives, formulating strategies to mitigate its influence.
The report highlights also the need for continued vigilance and adaptive strategies to protect a nation's democracy and development from disinformation attacks.
-- Play
-- --
The debate Professor Chen-Ling Hung is joined by other experts to discuss the impact of disinformation on the Taiwan election and others in 2024.
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
This is a summary of the report commissioned by Thomson on AI Disinformation Attacks during Taiwans 2024 Presidential Elections, written by Professor Chen-ling Hung from National Taiwan University.
