Posted on 01/13/2024 3:20:25 PM PST by NoLibZone
TAIPEI—Taiwan will hold a presidential election this weekend that will have global and regional ramifications. The frontrunner, current Vice President Lai Ching-te, has vowed to protect Taiwan’s autonomy from Chinese aggression and strengthen ties with the United States. Beijing has intimidated Taiwan by buzzing its airspace with fighter jets and sending spy balloons and satellites over the island. But there’s another enemy vying to take Lai down, and it’s on TikTok.
The popular social platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been flooded with false or sensationalized videos by accounts exhibiting behavior consistent with organized Chinese disinformation operations, experts say. Most of the videos target Lai, who Beijing views as a supporter of Taiwan’s independence from Communist China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan despite never having ruled it.
In one video by the account @ykcyedan, a masked woman angrily chides Lai for allegedly not paying his taxes. Others accuse Lai of conspiring to send young Taiwanese to war with China. In another, a young Taiwanese girl tells her audience how delighted she is to visit Harbin, a popular winter destination in northeast China, for the holidays. Scroll through enough of the videos and they begin to paint a picture of Lai as a warmongering tax cheat out to ruin children’s holiday dreams.
As Taiwan’s election fervor kicks into overdrive, the videos are racking up tens of thousands of views, raising concerns over whether the Chinese government can influence the app—and what voters see in the critical days before the election.
“The algorithm is deciding what you see. And that algorithm is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Tim Niven, lead researcher at Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, which tracks disinformation campaigns on social media.
It must not be allowed to run in the US.
They argue for free speech while denying it's use on their platform.
China knows that the invasion of Taiwan already has been done and it’s a matter of time when Taiwan goes the way of Hong Kong.
Lai Ching-te Has already been declared the winner. No pro-mainland government for the CCP.
So does China wait to see if Brandon or Big Mike is elected in 2024? Or do they go on ahead and attack?
The longer they wait the more time Taiwan has to prepare.
China can attack Taiwan but I think their performance will be similar to Russia. We don’t know how effective their military will be in a war with Taiwan. And they haven’t fought in a war since Korea. Corruption is going to be an issue like you saw in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sounds like Facebook, Twitter and Google in 2020.
In my opinion, the actions of people who take away your choices and your freedoms while pushing their agenda are no different than if they committed physical violence against you. No different.
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