Taiwan, US, Japan, UK, Slovakia stage GCTF media literacy workshop

2021/11/12

A workshop on defending democracy through media literacy was staged by Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, the U.K. and Slovakia under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework Nov. 9 to 10 from Taipei City.
 
Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, American Institute in Taiwan, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, British Office Taipei and Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, the virtual was the third of its kind under the multilateral platform.
 
According to the MOFA, the workshop involved officials such as Deputy Foreign Minister Harry Ho-jen Tseng, TFD President You Si-kun, AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk, JTEA Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, BOT Representative John Dennis and SECOT Representative Martin Podstavek. More than 100 experts and other participants from Europe and the Asia-Pacific also took part in the event.
 
During his opening remarks, Tseng said disinformation is among the most complex challenges for democratic societies worldwide, with the COVID-19 outbreak further intensifying the problem.
 
Standing on the front line of the democratic world, Taiwan is subject to the incessant harassment via disinformation and cyberattacks, Tseng said. The government will continue working with like-minded partners through multilateral platforms such as the GCTF to defend the shared values of freedom and democracy, he added.
 
Echoing Tseng’s remarks, You said Taiwan is striving to strengthen its resilience against cognitive warfare, with the Legislative Yuan continuing to advance regulatory reforms. The government is committed to exchanging experiences to bolster global capabilities in responding to the unprecedented challenge, he added.
 
Oudkirk said democracies such as the U.S. and Taiwan are vulnerable to the pernicious effects of intentionally misleading and harmful misinformation. Sharing lessons learned from past disinformation campaigns targeting electoral processes, it is increasingly evident that discussing response strategies can improve media literacy and strengthen the capacity for defending democracy, she added.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)