Earlier this month the Council on Foreign Relations—an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in the U.S.—announced it was extending its research project on the future of democracy around the world. This announcement as more than half of the world’s population will cast a ballot this year, means both democracy and a free press to cover those elections, will be tested. However, Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13 shows that through targeted responses and education on disinformation, democracy and a free press can be protected.
Taiwan’s Ambassador to Canada, Harry Tseng, says the interference by China in his country’s recent election campaign was “unprecedented” and he credits Doublethink Lab—an NGO in Taiwan whose mandate is to strengthen democracy through enhancing digital defences—for its work educating voters on China’s disinformation campaign.
“We cherish our democratic system (and) freedom of the press … you don’t want to tackle disinformation at the expense of democracy,” Ambassador Tseng told reporters at a briefing in Ottawa. Tseng said the Taiwanese government’s approach to disinformation in the media is done in a “… in a way that does not sacrifice freedom of the press.”
Tseng said his government uses a “Triple-Two Principle” for media disinformation which includes: the government must respond within two hours; the response must be kept to 200 words or less and the response must include two pictures or diagrams to explain why the information is wrong.
Meanwhile, a very different approach to democracy and press freedom is playing out south of the border by GOP presidential front-runner, Donald Trump. The former president told Fox News last month that if he wins a second presidential term this year on “Day One” he would abuse power and retaliate against his opponents. According to Kash Patel, a former member of Trump’s National Security Council, a second Trump administration would use the Constitution to prosecute media they oppose.
“We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections – we’re going to come after you,” Patel said on Steve Bannon’s podcast in December.
Trump is known for attacking journalists with whom he disagrees. 2020 was a record-breaking year for arrests or detainments for journalists in the U.S. according to the World Press Freedom Index.
Earlier this month President Joe Biden gave a speech on democracy to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Biden said the 2024 U.S. election was about democracy.
"These MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6 have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy. They made their choice. Now the rest of us, Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans, need to make our choice,” he said.
Will the U.S. follow Taiwan’s example and vote for democracy and a free press? Do Americans believe Biden when he says the 2024 election is about democracy?
As we watch events unfold here in Canada, we must not take our democracy and free press for granted.
There is much to learn from Taiwan’s recent election and the disinformation campaign its people were subjected to. As Tseng said, “How many lessons do you need to see?”
We have seen a valuable lesson in supporting democracy and free speech, the question is, are we willing to act on what we have learned when we are tested?
Janet E Silver is a Strategic Communications Consultant, journalism professor and Vice-President of World Press Freedom Canada.