Taiwanese Lawmaker Warns of Chinese Social Media 'Flooding' Ahead of Elections

Taiwanese national security and cybersecurity agencies are closely monitoring a large-scale social media campaign involving coordinated "mass page flooding" by accounts linked to a Chinese "borderless" content farm group. Cybersecurity experts detected the operation on June 15, with similar posts appearing across multiple social media pages. The campaign is widely suspected to be a preparatory effort to interfere with Taiwan's local elections later this year.

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The borderless farm is located in Qinhuangdao, China, and the funding behind it is the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Ting-yu stated that the operation is funded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He explained that the "borderless" farm, located in Qinhuangdao, China, likely conducted a test on June 15 to rapidly increase its follower count in Taiwan using non-political news content. The goal, he believes, is to build influence and manipulate public opinion ahead of the 2026 elections.

Wang emphasized that this is not an isolated incident, citing past instances where Beijing-backed information companies, supported by PLA research institutes, cultivated new accounts on platforms like Facebook. These accounts allegedly impersonate Taiwanese voices to influence public discourse, aiming to steer narratives, create internal divisions, and impact election outcomes during critical periods. The legislator noted that some content farms can simultaneously activate over 100 pages and post more than 300 articles within minutes, even when the content is not directly political, raising significant concerns.

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This is not an isolated individual phenomenon. In the past, we have also discovered that Beijing has information companies, funded by PLA research institutes, cultivating new accounts on Facebook to operate Taiwan's cognition and influence public opinion.

Wang Ting-yu highlighted China's history of using military resources and state funding to interfere in the public opinion of democratic nations through cognitive warfare. With both Taiwan and the United States facing significant elections this year, and following a similar experience in Japan's parliamentary elections, Wang urged relevant authorities to handle the situation appropriately. The Ministry of Digital Affairs and other cybersecurity units are actively observing these developments.

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National security units are paying close attention, and we will ask cybersecurity units such as the Ministry of Digital Affairs to observe closely.