China May Be Behind Fake Videos of Taiwan’s Leader, Report Says

Cindy Wang
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- China may be responsible for making and posting a large number of fake videos featuring Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen before a pivotal election for her party, the Taipei Times reported.

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The newspaper cited a national security official familiar with the matter whom it didn’t name as saying the makers of the clips used artificial intelligence to create fake hosts and voice overs.

Some of the videos seen by Bloomberg News made false claims about Tsai’s personal life.

The content and its spread across social media sites “bore the characteristic traits of an informational operation by the Chinese Ministry of State Security,” the Taipei Times reported, citing the unnamed official.

The official added that the videos contained Chinese phrases that are not routinely used in Taiwan.

See: China Tensions Dominate Taiwan Election With Global Implications

Taiwan’s voters will choose a new leader on Saturday as Tsai is set to step down after serving the maximum two terms. Beijing has ramped up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Tsai during her nearly eight years in power because she won’t acknowledge the island of 23 million people is part of China.

A US government report said last year that China spends billions of dollars a year on an influence campaign that includes spreading false information around the world.

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