In a recent report released by research firm Graphika, an influence operation spanning Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube has been revealed to target Taiwan's upcoming presidential election. The operation involved a network of over 800 fake accounts and 13 Facebook pages that reposted Chinese-language TikTok and YouTube videos related to Taiwanese politics.

While it remains unknown who is behind this operation, concerns have been raised by government officials and tech companies about potential election manipulation from various foreign states, including China, Russia, and Iran, as well as domestic actors.

According to Graphika, the operation focused on promoting the Kuomintang (KMT), the main opposition party in Taiwan known for its alignment with China, while criticizing its opponents, such as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party advocating for Taiwan's independence. The content of the fake accounts closely followed Taiwan's news cycle, seizing upon controversies surrounding issues such as an egg shortage and alleged drugging of toddlers at a kindergarten to discredit the KMT's opponents as incompetent and corrupt.

Graphika, a research company specialized in studying social networks and online communities, has identified most of the fake accounts and pages, which have since been taken down by the respective platforms. These accounts received little engagement from real users, according to Graphika.

However, Graphika warns that such attempts to manipulate Taiwan's online political conversation are likely to increase as the 2024 election approaches. The research firm noted that the operation originated from TikTok and YouTube accounts named "Agitate Taiwan" that had been active since 2022. It remains unclear whether the accounts were created by the influence operation or if they belonged to a real user whose content was being repurposed.

YouTube has taken down the Agitate Taiwan account for violating its rules against spam, deceptive practices, and scams, while TikTok continues to investigate the account but has not found evidence of inauthenticity or its involvement in the operation.

Though the fake Facebook posts did not receive much engagement, Graphika found that some appeared prominently in search results for specific hashtags related to Taiwanese political parties and candidates in the upcoming January 2024 election.

Facebook, upon collaboration with Graphika researchers, took swift action to remove the inauthentic accounts and monitor for further violations of their policies to combat such behavior. The report highlighted several red flags that indicated the Facebook accounts were fake, including the use of profile pictures stolen from real individuals and edited to alter their features.

Graphika's findings serve as a sobering reminder of the vulnerability of online platforms to influence operations targeting democratic processes. As Taiwan braces for its upcoming presidential election, efforts to mitigate the impact of disinformation and propaganda are expected to be stepped up by both government authorities and tech companies.

Overall, the exposure of this fake social media operation sheds light on the ongoing challenges faced by nations worldwide in safeguarding the integrity of their electoral processes in the digital age.

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