MEPs on the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in the EU’s Democratic Processes (INGE2) questioned Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs on Thursday 29 September on ways to counter disinformation. The Chair of this sub-committee, Raphaël Glucksmann, praised Taiwan’s efforts in this area: “We are in the same boat, but sometimes you are at the front of the boat and we are a bit behind”.
Taiwan faces numerous disinformation campaigns from Beijing and has developed a counter-offensive to protect its democracy. MEPs have been curious about these techniques, particularly in view of the European elections in 2024, but also in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Audrey Tang shared some of the things that she believes have proven successful to protect Taiwan’s democracy. She advocated for a system of “people public private partnerships” to combat false information. “The social sector sets the norms, the public sector amplifies them, and the private sector implements them”, she explained.
Taiwan experimented with this way of working to combat disinformation about Covid-19, for example. This model strengthens democracy by trusting citizens to make policies, according to the Taiwanese minister.
Another major key in this fight is education, Ms Tang stressed. The Taipei government is investing in the digital skills of young people. “The sooner the young people start to practice democracy, the sooner their voice counts, the more likely they will contribute to the democratic process, and less likely to be influenced by this disinformation”, according to the minister. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)