TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday (Nov. 11) emphasized the importance of global cooperation to protect media freedom through experience sharing and media literacy promotion during the 2022 Taiwan Forum in London.

The event was co-hosted by Radio Taiwan International and the Association for International Broadcasting to share Taiwan’s experience in cyber warfare. The theme of the conference was “We Share the Same Responsibilities,” which refers to Taiwan’s dedication and engagement with the world, according to a Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association (TDAA) press release.

Journalists have had to deal with the expansion of authoritarianism, the spread of disinformation, and challenges to media freedom in recent years, Tsai said in a pre-recorded video. Therefore, “it is imperative that we work together to uphold press freedom and make our societies more resilient to authoritarian influence,” she said.

The president pointed out that a free press and an informed public are key to upholding government accountability and a strong democracy, adding, “Taiwan has come a long way in our pursuit of press freedom.”

Taiwan Digital Minister Audrey Tang (唐風) shared the country's experience in responding to disinformation and cyberattacks, per TDAA. “As we have shown in Taiwan, fast and fun very successfully underpin our digital social innovation approach where the government doesn’t innovate just ‘for’ the people, but ‘with’ the people,” Tang said. She pointed out that “humor over rumor” is her ministry’s primary strategy in countering disinformation.

Creative memes that have accurate information play an essential role in Taiwan's fight against fake news, the minister said.

TDAA President Chiayo Kuo (郭家佑) delivered a speech on how Taiwan can break through external pressures by using tools like online communities. Kuo revealed her association’s most recent project, the Cyber Civil Defense Project, which “seeks to bring together scholars, experts, media workers, and netizens to ally with democracy, freedom and cyber defense,” the press release said. The project places faith in the “tangible impact and benefits” social media has on the world, she said.

As a country that “stands head-to-head” with one of the most powerful authoritarian regimes in the world, Taiwan needs more people from the international community to join its efforts, Kuo said. “We don’t ask what we can do ourselves, we ask what we can do together.”