Digital Rights Programme for CSOs: Country Meeting – Taiwan

Background

In Taiwan, the development of the digital sphere has introduced both opportunities and challenges. Notably, the challenge of disinformation originating from China has emerged as a significant threat, targeting political campaigns and engaging in information warfare to influence public opinion. Content moderation poses a dilemma, requiring a delicate balance between preserving freedom of speech and preventing the spread of harmful content. Instances of website blockage, whether due to government censorship or cybersecurity concerns, raise questions about internet freedom and transparent access to information. Beyond political aspects, the digital challenges in Taiwan extend to societal dimensions, such as gender-based harassment, privacy concerns, and data protection. Particularly, those marginalised communities, such as the elderly and the indigenous people, are vulnerable to the impact of these issues. In response, the government has attempted to amend the Social Order Maintenance Act and the Defence Mobilisation Act with stricter penalties and introduced the Digital Intermediary Services Bill to criminalise fake news or online content deemed harmful to the public interest.

This raises concerns over online activism and freedom of expression, as internet users or government critics could be caught in the crossfire of the government’s efforts to counter disinformation, leading to violations of people’s rights. Hence, this national convening aims to strengthen Asia Centre’s engagement with the Taiwanese CSO network and share knowledge of experiences and methods to counter disinformation and address other digital challenges arising from increased internet and social media usage. This is crucial as Taiwan is experiencing the election period when the online digital landscape is volatile and politically sensitive.

Programme

• Date: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
• Time: 1:00 – 5:00 pm
• Venue: National Taiwan University
• Registration: https://forms.gle/7kY2N1ipk8zU9cpg9.

Session on “Navigating the Digital Landscape: Responses from CSOs to Disinformation and Digital Threats in Taiwan”

Speakers

• Leah Lin, Executive Director, Asia Citizen Future Association
• Marcin Jerzewski, Head of Taiwan Office, European Values Center for Security Policy
• Filip Noubel, Managing Editor, Global Voices
• Hsin-I Lin, Director of Social Advocacy Division, Taiwan Reach-Out Association for Democracy=
• Alvin Chang, Managing Director, Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy
• Chao Hwei Hwang, Cheif Content Officer, Taiwan AI Labs Foundation

Moderator: Isis M. Lee, Vice President, Radio Taiwan International

The event is a part of the Digital Rights Programme, co-convened by Asia Centre and Google Asia Pacific. Asia Centre and Google Asia Pacific built “Digital Rights Programme for Civil Society Organisations” spanning for nearly a year, which started in December 2023 to engage International NGOs (INGOs) and their CSO partners that currently work on the issues facing digital rights in the Asia-Pacific region. The programme is covering a series of thematic online and onsite activities to address potential gaps that CSOs experience in collaboration when working under this programme.

More information, please visit: https://asiacentre.org/event/digital-rights-programme-for-csos-country-meeting-in-taiwan/

Contact: Matt Yutthaworakool (matt@asiacentre.org)