TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Sources familiar with Taiwan’s national security affairs said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been using paid online commentators (internet water army) to attack President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and former Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) Facebook accounts.
The CCP has hired online marketing companies, which have hired people to engage in cyberattacks, and at least 825 suspicious accounts have been identified, CNA reported.
According to CNA, national security sources said that the Chinese cyber army left messages on Tsai’s and Su’s Facebook pages, such as "[You are] comparing yourself to Ukraine to be the cannon fodder for the Americans.” An investigation found that the true identity of Yanchun Song, which is one of the 825 accounts, was Sung Yen-chun (宋岩春), the general manager of a Chinese advertising agency.
According to reports, the cyber army adopted a four-step method. First, they posted articles using a fake account. Second, they used foreigners' fan pages to share screenshots.
Third, they used these fake accounts to forward information. Last, they share the fake articles with large public groups on Facebook to increase their reach.
The misinformation was then spread by the public to LINE groups and other Facebook groups, per CNA.
According to Taiwan’s intelligence, the CCP used this method to extensively meddle in Taiwan’s nine-in-one local election in November, and will target the 2024 presidential and legislative elections, using the same method. Topics the paid commentators focus on include inflation, selling agricultural and fishery products to China, military exercises against Taiwan, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the imminent breakout of a cross-strait war, and the U.S. abandoning Taiwan.