Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was sworn in on Monday (21st), amidst widespread attention due to the Chinese Communist Party’s coercion and spreading of rumors to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential election, becoming an international focal point. As the upcoming US presidential election draws near, the US government is stepping up vigilance to prevent CCP intervention in elections.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Committee on CCP Issues, penned an article titled “CCP attempting to decide our elections – we will not allow it” for The Hill on Thursday (23rd), calling for vigilance and efforts to thwart CCP interference in US and global democratic elections.
In his opinion piece, Raja stated, “The CCP is determined to destroy our trust in the democratic process, tarnish our image on the world stage, and manipulate election results in its favor. To protect our hard-earned voting rights and those of other democratic countries, we must not allow this situation to occur.”
Raja cited Taiwan as an example of CCP’s blatant interference in elections, including military pressure, economic coercion, and the dissemination of false information through news and social media channels. False information plays an increasingly important role in CCP’s election interference activities.
In recent elections in Taiwan, CCP manipulated pro-CCP media to influence public opinion and support pro-CCP candidates. CCP also spent money to fabricate public opinion polls and spread pro-CCP false information targeting Taiwanese voters on social media.
The article mentioned a propaganda war initiated by the CCP called “Spamouflage.” It described how CCP uses tactics similar to Russia’s, directly attacking the US election. CCP’s methods have become increasingly sophisticated and insidious. In a recent report, a Spamouflage account garnered nearly 12,000 followers by spreading a video about the US election, which was proven to be deepfake content generated by artificial intelligence.
“Spamouflage” is one of CCP’s false information networks, where CCP’s internet army uses newly registered or hijacked accounts to pose as fake identities like Western think tanks and media, leveraging social media and AI tools to accelerate rumor spread.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) released a report in May last year, stating that CCP’s “cyber influence operations” against democratic countries have become increasingly frequent, precise, and effective. The report highlighted CCP’s collaboration with Chinese companies to manipulate foreign opinions via social media.
“Spamouflage” has previously spread rumors about secret US military weather weapons causing wildfires in Hawaii and false information about the release of nuclear waste from Fukushima in Japan. In January this year, “Spamouflage” spread a fabricated document called “The Secret History of Tsai Ing-wen” on platforms like WeChat, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook, and X, totaling over 300 pages of deep fakes.
In his article, Raja emphasized the threat posed by TikTok. Due to its parent company ByteDance’s ties to the CCP, its algorithm can be manipulated to carry out targeted influence operations. He warned, “Our data can also be used against us.”
As of April this year, the US had 170 million TikTok users. 43% of TikTok users claim to get news from the app. Bipartisan members of the US Congress believe TikTok could be used to influence American voters’ voting intentions during election years.
On April 24th, President Biden signed a bill targeting TikTok, forcing it to divest from its parent company ByteDance, or face a ban on operating in the US.
As a major advocate of this legislation, Raja stated, “The CCP’s control over the TikTok algorithm and other vulnerabilities demonstrate that the CCP’s technological authoritarianism and its global desire to undermine democracy and human rights pose a significant challenge to our democracy.”
Raja proposed strategies and recommendations to protect elections. He suggested that digital media need to enhance their ability to combat threats, and that social media companies should be held accountable when false information, conspiracy theories, and hatred spread. He also recommended learning from Taiwan’s experience, highlighting Taiwan’s establishment of a robust non-profit fact-checking organization, the “Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC),” to combat CCP interference by flagging misleading information harmful to its democracy.
In conclusion, he urged, “This year, at least 64 countries worldwide are holding elections. We must keep a clear mind and remain vigilant against CCP’s attempts to undermine the core of our democracy: our elections.”