Leiden University Student Repository

Tillart, Vitorio (2023)

Taiwan’s Disinformed Elections: Examining China’s State-Led Disinformation Campaigns in Taiwan

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

This thesis examines disinformation in Taiwan during the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 local elections. It argues that the Chinese government employs disinformation as a form of psychological warfare. Therefore, the thesis seeks to answer: “How is disinformation that is disseminated through content farms in Taiwan as a form of psychological warfare developing since the Taiwanese presidential election in 2020?” Using the 'content farm' Mission as a case study, the thesis finds there is a consistent bias against the Democratic People's Party (DPP) and favourable towards the Kuomintang (KMT), but (1) a slight decrease in terms of ‘lure’ and (2) a slight rise in the positive attention given to the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The thesis thus highlights the continuous development of China's state-led disinformation campaigns and its implications for democratic elections worldwide.

Taiwan

China

Disinformation

Misinformation

Psychological Warfare

Cross-Strait Relations

Digital Territory

Author

Tillart, Vitorio

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

East Asia

Supervisors

Morris, C.J.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en