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- Title
Lawfare in the Disinformation Age: Chinese Interference in Taiwan's 2020 Elections.
- Authors
Quirk, Sean
- Abstract
Despite an aggressive disinformation campaign from the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), Taiwan effectively countered false information coming from the PRC and maintained the integrity of its January 2020 elections. Political warfare between the PRC and Taiwan (the Republic of China) stretches back decades. However, the digital age has catalyzed the range and effectiveness of "disinformation"--the dissemination of false information with the intention to deceive public opinion. During Taiwan's 2020 elections, PRC disinformation centered on the political unrest in Hong Kong and sought to sway Taiwanese public opinion toward candidates that were sympathetic to Beijing. Taiwan mounted a robust self-defense against this disinformation through a whole-of-society approach: factchecking by civil society organizations, government-sponsosred education for media literacy, and a technology sector that actively curbed inauthentic behavior online. Taiwan's legal responses to PRC disinformation also demonstrate how specific legislation can counter the spread of rumors domestically and discourage interference from abroad. These lawfare mechanisms included Taiwan's libel laws, "fake news" regulations, and the Anti-Infiltration Act. Taiwan's 2020 elections offer a glimpse into the frontlines of disinformation and the novel social media strategies that authoritarian regimes like the PRC use to influence public opinion in democracies. The story of Taiwan's elections also shows the potential resiliency of democracy in the face of authoritarian disinformation and the possible legal recourse to counter foreign interference. Amid rising election interference and a U.S-PRC propaganda war surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the world urgently needs these lessons.
- Subjects
LAWFARE; DISINFORMATION; ELECTIONS; PUBLIC opinion; PANDEMICS
- Publication
Harvard International Law Journal, 2021, Vol 62, Issue 1, p525
- ISSN
0017-8063
- Publication type
Article