Fwd: Two UCLA Asia Pacific Center Events on Dis/Misinformation (11/9) and Local Elections (11/30)

Fighting the Spread of Dis/Misinformation and Fake News in Taiwan

In the current digital era, there is an overwhelming amount of information available given the

proliferation of various information sources and social media platforms. Survey data show that people have become more and more reliant on using social media. Despite the convenience, social media at the same time makes people more vulnerable to fake news and mis/disinformation. In Taiwan, the spread of fake news and dis/misinformation becomes an even more serious issue since there are news reports which accuse China of conducting disinformation campaigns to not only undermine popular trust in the government but also interfere in Taiwanese elections. The speaker will share with us the impact and prevalence of fake news and dis/misinformation in Taiwan and discuss the different approaches that are adopted to combat them and ways of discerning misleading content.

• Time/Date: Wednesday, November 9, 5:00-6:00 pm (Pacific time) on Zoom  

• Speaker: Prof. Chen-ling Hung (Professor and Director, Graduate Institute of Journalism at the National Taiwan University) 

• Moderator: Prof. Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld (Assistant Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA)

• Event page: https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/event/15861

• Registration link: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MoRqxSqdS52rmCuxD5SH2Q

Analyzing Taiwan’s 2022 Local Elections: Trends and Implications

The 2022 local elections in Taiwan are considered the midterm election for President Tsai Ing-wen’s second term. The results of this election reflect the level of popular support for the Tsai administration as well as people’s satisfaction with the Democratic Progressive Party as a ruling party that controls both the executive and legislative branches. Therefore, the outcome of the 2022 local elections becomes an important indicator for both the pan-Blue and pan-Green coalitions in shaping their electoral strategies in the coming 2024 presidential and legislative elections. Given the importance of the 2022 Taiwanese local elections, the speakers will analyze the implications of the elections from the following perspectives: relative strengths of the two major parties, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the elections, the performance of third parties such as Taiwan People’s Party, and the potential impacts of the 2022 elections on Taiwan-US-China relations and the 2024 national elections.

• Time/Date: Wednesday, November 30, 5:00-6:00 pm (Pacific time) on Zoom

• Roundtable Speakers: Dr. Nathan Batto (Associate Research Fellow/Professor, Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica) Dr. Eric Chen-hua Yu (Research Fellow at Election Study Center and Professor of Political Science, National Chengchi University) 

• Moderator: Dr. Shih-chan Dai (Postdoctoral Researcher, Asia Pacific Center, UCLA)

• Event page: https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/event/15862

• Registration link: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hmfyyP1zS8qkO3VXsXa9-A