TikTok, China’s weapon to try to influence the elections – L’Express

A priori, nothing very worrying on this island which respects freedom of expression. Except that many of these clips that invade the application – recognizable by their accent and the simplified characters used in mainland China – come from Chinese media and influencers. In addition to trying to discredit the Taiwanese executive, they sing the praises of the communist regime. Some, for example, promote the latest measures put in place by the Chinese authorities to encourage Taiwanese to settle in the province of Fujian, from which many inhabitants of the island, located just opposite, originate.

These videos, which sometimes come directly from Chinese television, greatly worry the Taiwanese authorities. “I am afraid that disinformation will degrade confidence in our institutions and further polarize our society,” confides Vincent Chao, municipal councilor of the city of Taipei, and spokesperson for the DPP presidential candidate, the current vice-president. William Lai, target of numerous online attacks. But, in a democratic country, how can we respond to this without compromising our ideals?”

People’s China does not hide its ambition to integrate the island into its territory. Chinese President Xi Jinping repeatedly repeats his wish for “reunification”, by force if necessary. But, initially, Beijing hopes to encourage the Taiwanese population to get closer to the continent, by rejecting the DPP, a fringe of which is pro-independence – William Lai presented himself in 2017 as a “worker pragmatic for Taiwan’s independence. Beijing has also broken off all dialogue with Taipei since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, even if the latter has always been cautious on this subject.

On the island of 24 million inhabitants, TikTok, which has 4.2 million users, 40% of whom are young adults, has not yet reached the popularity of YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. But the application’s links with the Chinese government as well as its rapid development create strong mistrust. Last year, the FBI called the app a threat to US national security. On guard, the Taiwanese government has banned the use of TikTok on government employees’ work cell phones.

“Chinese disinformation targets all Taiwanese governmental and legislative institutions,” points out Chien Yu-yen, author of a book on Chinese infiltration in Taiwan and close to the DPP. Number of fake news aim to undermine the confidence of the Taiwanese in the American ally and in its desire to defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack. This recent episode demonstrates this: last May, American MP Seth Moulton, who is considering deterrence tactics, suggested, among other ideas, issuing this warning to China: if it attacked Taiwan, America would bomb the semiconductor company TSMC, the most strategic in the country. Chinese media are rapidly amplifying the information, claiming that these remarks were also made by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – which is false. “The Chinese Communist Party [PCC] cut down my comments, disseminated them on social networks in order to weaken the partnership between Taiwan and the United States, reacted the parliamentarian. It was just an example.”

“It’s an increasingly serious subject,” says specialist Chien Yu-yen, looking serious. “In the past, fake news were carried by Taiwanese businessmen or politicians who have links on the other side. Today, there is no need for them anymore, the news about TSMC went directly from Chinese public television to TikTok. In half a day, it spread on Taiwanese television and Taiwanese social media.”

Among young Taiwanese, the Chinese application “does not inspire confidence”, however, indicates Chang Yuan-ting, a young teacher at a high school in the city of Tainan, on the southwest coast. They claim to watch it mainly for fashion advice or entertainment, but not to form an opinion. “I don’t think TikTok or other social networks are good ways to find out about politics,” says Huang Li-ting, a 24-year-old videographer who prefers to consult international media.

The fact remains that Chinese influence is spreading inexorably. Chang Yuan-ting, 29, admits that his students are increasingly using words typical of the mainland. “We sometimes laugh and say that it’s not good. But, around me, almost everyone does it, even my parents, because China has infiltrated Taiwan culturally, via social networks,” he says. She. And this is all the easier since China and Taiwan share the same language and certain cultural elements. “We often allow ourselves to watch Chinese series, to listen to music from the continent,” explains Yuan-ting.

“The closer the election gets, the more I fear that the Chinese will overwhelm us with videos encouraging us to vote for their favorite candidate,” laments Stacy Liu. Although she does not use TikTok, this thirty-year-old receives dozens of Chinese videos from the application via other social networks like WhatsApp, Instagram, or the most used messaging application in Taiwan, Line, the most often from their parents. “For the moment, it’s just songs or personal stories, but they absolutely believe everything they see on the networks,” she worries.

During the last Taiwanese presidential election, in 2020, the DPP suffered a violent wave of disinformation. But the offensive had not borne fruit. The drastic takeover of Hong Kong by Beijing at the end of 2019, when the campaign was in full swing on the island, had undermined the confidence of many Taiwanese in the CCP and facilitated the re-election of President Tsai Ing-wen.

The media offensive should accelerate in the coming weeks. “There is no reason to expect it to be different in 2024,” underlines Vincent Chao, convinced of direct Chinese influence on Taiwanese public opinion, even if he admits that it It’s difficult to know where exactly the misinformation is coming from. In Taiwan, many opposition politicians maintain a conciliatory discourse towards communist China without necessarily being directly approached by Beijing.

In 2022, a survey by Academia Sinica, a Taiwanese research center, indicated that only 9% of respondents considered China a “reliable” country. Despite the numerous articles and videos denigrating the DPP, its candidate, William Lai, remains at the top of the polls for the moment. But the possible alliance of two opposition candidates and the growing pace of disinformation could change the situation.