Malicious actors used AI to create fake videos of politician Wang Shijian and manipulated photos of former legislator Kao Chia-yu, digitally altering a Taiwan flag to a Chinese flag in an official photo to spread disinformation.
The incident involved two separate AI-powered disinformation attacks targeting Taiwanese political figures. First, unscrupulous individuals used AI video technology to create fake footage of politician Wang Shijian, falsely claiming he had traveled to China. Second, malicious actors digitally manipulated an official photo of former legislator Kao Chia-yu taken at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in New York, replacing the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag in the background with the Chinese five-star flag. Kao Chia-yu quickly clarified the manipulation on Facebook, showing comparison images of the original and altered photos, and made a strong statement that she would never set foot on Chinese territory until three conditions were met: the release of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, Christmas celebrations being allowed in Shanghai, and China's recognition of the Republic of China Taiwan. Observant netizens identified flaws in the manipulated image, noting that the plum blossoms on the wall were not also altered. The incident highlights the increasing prevalence of AI-generated fake content targeting political figures as the 2026 local elections approach.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed