On May 22nd, Taiwan NextGen Foundation held the Global Taipei Dialogue XXII surrounding a current debate spreading across the globe: Should we ban TikTok? To expand on the factors in this debate, along with its several complexities and relating impacts, we proudly welcomed three different speakers to divulge their own expertise and insights on this occasion. Opening the event, our two research assistants, Chia-Chen Kuo and Chieh-Yun Cai, took the floor with a comprehensive summary of the various actions, and controversies surrounding this topic thus far, with both a domestic and international perspective, taking particular notice on the US’ own ban bill. Following, was our first speaker of the night, Josh Wang, Co-Director of the Taiwan Information Environment Research Center (IORG), an organization dedicated to the reduction of information manipulation, understanding the Mandarin information environment, and strengthening Taiwan’s democratic resilience.

Wang took to the front their DouYin/TikTok case study results, finding that information manipulation on the platform not only reduced users’ trust in democratic systems, but would also push certain types of content during periods like Taiwan’s elections, where it was found that Chinese state media spread specific clips of Taiwanese commentators on DouYin, largely surpassing the amount of those featuring major Taiwanese political figures. To combat these kinds of information manipulation, Josh Wang stresses the focus on public discussions, research, and civic education to strengthen our democratic resilience. A topic and viewpoint that would come up more as we shifted to an open floor, inviting our CEO and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator, Kuan-ting Chen, and New Power Party (NPP) Chairperson, Claire Wang, to share their insights on this matter. In both her insights and  a reply to an audience member’s question, Chairperson Claire Wang put particular focus in the proactivity and concrete stance of the government’s response in face of Chinese threats, as well as a focus on media literacy and education to help prevent the influence of children who view and use these apps.
 

Wang later goes on to state how there needs to be  proper research on each platform’s underlying algorithms and operational mechanisms before proceeding with further discussions, and suggested regulating digital information in a manner similar to restrictions on Chinese investment in Taiwanese companies. Legislator Kuan-ting Chen shared similar values, in that legislators and executive agencies should continue to promote and express their positions on the topics of information security, adolescent health, national security, and personal data protection to shift these discussions from the advocacy stage into the beginnings of actual law. He also stated how the most important part is to consistently apply these safety standards to all applications and social media platforms to fundamentally address the issue of information manipulation and preserve the quality of public discussion. Reaching the end of the event, Director Josh Wang ended off with a strong statement on the more troubling issues to be faced later on, which is combating the rise of information manipulation as a possible ban or regulation bill in Taiwan comes to fruition. We want to extend our great appreciation towards the distinguished speakers for their valuable insights on the topic during this event, as well as the attendees for taking time to join in on this discussion. The Global Taipei Dialogue seeks to bring together scholars , politicians, members of the private sector and NGOs dedicated to addressing pressing issues for Taiwan. By sharing expertise and experiences, we hope to learn from each other and collectively work towards an inclusive future