Day by day, social media feeds in Taiwan are flooded with a mixture of sensational and carefully-crafted, extra subdued claims. They vary from fear-mongering a few potential cross-strait battle to narratives portraying the Republic of China as grappling with racism and meals security points, to casting doubt on its relationship with Washington.
In 2023, Taiwan’s Nationwide Safety Bureau reported a 60 % enhance in Chinese language-origin disinformation over the earlier 12 months, with a documented 2.16 million instances on report. Now, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei proceed, so too does the sophistication—and quantity—of the Chinese language Communist Get together’s disinformation marketing campaign.
“China conducts overwhelming political warfare in opposition to Taiwan—disinformation, cognitive warfare, pretend information,” Liang-Chih Evans Chen, Affiliate Analysis Fellow, Institute for Nationwide Protection and Safety Analysis, tells The Cipher Temporary. “It’s a relentless battle for public notion and morale. And it’s getting worse.”
Based on Taiwan’s Nationwide Safety Bureau, China is more and more leveraging generative synthetic intelligence to amplify disinformation efforts geared toward destabilizing Taiwan.
“The standard was once questionable, however that has modified. With AI and deepfake expertise, the Folks’s Liberation Military can manipulate movies and different very convincing media,” one high-ranking Taiwanese navy official working in psychological operations, who spoke anonymously as a result of they aren’t approved to talk on the report, tells The Cipher Temporary. “Typically, in addition they take uncooked native footage and re-edit it to look as if it’s coming from inside Taiwan, making it extra plausible and simpler to affect individuals.”
Up to now in 2025, greater than 500,000 “controversial messages” linked again to China have circulated on platforms like Fb, TikTok, and X, usually spiking throughout politically delicate moments corresponding to President Lai Ching-te’s statements on cross-strait relations or main bulletins like new U.S. investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm (TSMC).
Disinformation can be unfold by way of YouTube, encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, and by way of pretend accounts that used AI-generated profile pictures, deepfakes, and phony information articles to make propaganda seem natural and credible.
“Beginning round 2008, China’s predominant technique was to buy media firms in Taiwan to unfold their narratives simply. This was considerably profitable. However in 2014, after the Sunflower Motion, a big student-led social motion, China realized younger individuals weren’t watching conventional TV; they received information on-line,” DPP Legislator and Affiliate Professor at Nationwide Taipei College Graduate College of Criminology, Puma Shen, tells The Cipher Temporary. “They created many web sites that acted like information retailers however have been truly crammed with disinformation and pretend information. Some have been based mostly in Singapore or Malaysia however operated by Chinese language actors.”
Shen defined that Fb was lengthy the “predominant channel for distribution.” His workforce reported suspicious websites to the tech big, which subsequently blocked them, however “this technique solely labored till round 2019-2020,” in keeping with Shen.
“After that, they shifted focus to YouTube. They used AI voices to transform articles into movies with photos after which shared these movies on Fb. Fb couldn’t block YouTube URLs, so this turned a brand new battlefield,” Shen instructed us. “At the moment, 70 to 80 % of political information in Chinese language on YouTube is influenced by China’s disinformation campaigns. Google tries to behave however struggles. Earlier than Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, Google eliminated about 200 Chinese language government-related channels per day, but it surely’s exhausting to maintain up.”
The most important wrestle now could be TikTok, as Taipei has “no cooperation there,” in keeping with Shen.
“The algorithm controls what info individuals see. It’s designed for fast, passive consumption, making it an excellent device for brainwashing. Even when just one video out of fifty comprises a political message, that message will get embedded in your thoughts,” Shen stated. “The algorithm isn’t clear, to allow them to resolve what to indicate and affect individuals’s ideas. That is harmful, particularly when individuals spend hours swiping by way of movies each day.”
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Observers additionally level out that Beijing has shifted its ways lately, shifting away from overt messaging on cross-strait relations to extra passively stoking inside divisions inside Taiwan. This consists of smear campaigns and false claims about native companies. Usually, the disinformation is masked as clickbait—celeb gossip or wellness content material—that subtly steers readers towards politically motivated conspiracy theories.
The mainland’s disinformation efforts contain a broad community of state actors, together with its navy’s Strategic Help Pressure, the Ministry of State Safety, the Central Propaganda Division, and the Ministry of Public Safety—all enjoying distinct roles in cyber operations, propaganda, and data management. These companies push overt messaging by way of state media and diplomatic channels and run covert campaigns, usually in partnership with personal firms or loosely affiliated teams like hacktivists.
Outsourcing these operations to industrial entities is a rising pattern, making attribution harder. This consists of paid propagandists, troll farms, clickbait content material creators, and information corporations promoting disinformation instruments. By hiring third events to execute these campaigns, the Chinese language authorities obscures its involvement, complicating accountability and amplifying the attain and class of its affect operations.
Ways additionally embody collaborating with sympathetic Taiwanese media, amplifying essential voices from inside Taiwan—corresponding to retired navy officers and political influencers—and concentrating on youthful audiences by way of widespread platforms.
Specialists underscore that disinformation is changing into extra refined, usually disguised as well being recommendation or leisure earlier than veering into political messaging. Whereas Beijing denies interfering in Taiwan’s affairs, the rising sophistication of those campaigns, bolstered by evolving AI instruments, poses an more and more advanced menace to Taiwan’s info integrity and safety.
China’s disinformation marketing campaign goals, analysts say, to erode public belief in Taiwan’s authorities, notably the ruling DPP whereas deterring help for Taiwanese independence.
Ching Yang, one of many main investigators on the Taipei-based disinformation monitoring group Doublethink Lab, highlighted that newspapers in Hong Kong “have just lately accused sure politicians or their households of accepting U.S. cash to create divisions between Taiwan and Mainland China.”
“They use allegations about tasks and funding to drive disinformation geared toward weakening Taiwan’s unity,” he tells The Cipher Temporary. The DPP, nevertheless, will not be the CCP’s main goal.
“The actual enemy for China isn’t Taiwan,” Shen confused. “It’s the U.S.” He factors out that there are round 13 “predominant narratives” the CCP makes use of in its disinformation push.
“We examined which resonated most with Taiwanese youngsters — anti-U.S. messages ranked highest,” Shen defined. “They push anti-U.S. messages each inside Taiwan and within the U.S. They (CCP) attempt to undermine belief within the U.S. and the West typically. Additionally, they discourage cooperation with Japan and India. For Taiwanese who’re anti-China however eat sufficient anti-U.S. messaging, the technique is to make them see China as not so unhealthy.”
In Taiwan, the disinformation method is principally to recommend that Washington is unreliable, would abandon Taiwan in a battle, or is exploiting the island—corresponding to claims that U.S. arms gross sales are a rip-off or that U.S. pork isn’t protected to eat, claims which have triggered massive protests previously.
These messages, usually amplified by Beijing-linked actors or Taiwanese figures sympathetic to China, don’t at all times depend on conspiracy theories; as an alternative, they illuminate actual information in ways in which forged the U.S. in a unfavourable mild, fueling skepticism and weakening belief within the U.S.-Taiwan alliance. From Shen’s purview, the target is to “sow mistrust.”
“Don’t belief the federal government, don’t belief the ruling occasion, don’t belief democracy or the U.S,” Shen famous. “They (CCP) wish to persuade perhaps 40-50 % of Taiwanese that China isn’t so unhealthy, and that if China invades, it may take over shortly — so higher to signal a peace settlement. The CCP desires to influence its residents that it’s the perfect occasion as a result of it brings stability and prosperity.”
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These low-cost, high-impact campaigns additionally serve a goal for the CCP at residence. Contained in the mainland, disinformation helps legitimize potential navy motion by manufacturing public help and framing aggression as a justified response to Taiwanese provocation, reinforcing nationalist sentiment. Internationally, these campaigns provide China a authorized and ethical veneer, notably for non-Western audiences, whereas casting Taiwan and its allies—particularly the U.S.—as aggressors.
Taipei faces important challenges in addressing threats posed by disinformation. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau established the Cognitive Warfare Analysis Middle final 12 months, to counter disinformation campaigns concentrating on Taiwan’s democracy and safety. In January, the federal government pledged to double down on its efforts to counter burgeoning disinformation campaigns. In late 2022, the federal government designated Chinese language media platforms—together with TikTok— a “nationwide safety menace” and banned their use on government-issued units.
Whereas Beijing’s efforts to affect public opinion have largely fallen flat, fatigue is setting in amongst Taiwanese residents who’re uncovered to fixed warnings and stress. Specialists warn that as Taiwan sharpens its defenses, China will solely evolve its ways, making future disinformation campaigns tougher to detect and resist.
“Taiwanese individuals typically acknowledge the hazard from China. However politicians right here, like in lots of nations, typically attempt to downplay it or persuade residents in any other case,” Shen stated. “Since we converse Chinese language, we’re susceptible to Chinese language disinformation and “lawfare,” China’s authorized and political warfare to maintain Taiwan remoted internationally.”
Yang is anxious that Beijing’s rising use of disinformation as a gentle energy device may sign a prelude to extra aggressive, hard-power or kinetic motion.
“In comparison with Russia’s ways earlier than invading Ukraine, China makes use of disinformation to border their opponents negatively. For instance, Russian propaganda accused Ukraine of being run by Nazis,” he added. “Equally, in Taiwan, Chinese language media accuse the ruling Democratic Progressive Get together and President Tsai Ing-wen of being ‘Nazis’ or extremists. This disinformation goals to justify aggression and create division internally.”
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