TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s cyber ambassador Audrey Tang believes democracies can harness technology not only to withstand the harms of disinformation and social media but also to create more inclusive, participatory societies that rebuild trust.
Tang, a former digital minister and a longtime advocate for open government, told Indo-Pacific journalists this month that the last decade’s shift in how social media works has left societies more divided. Where platforms once connected people through shared voices, recommendation systems now feed users whatever sparks outrage.
“Social media was kind of neutral until, say, 10 years ago,” Tang said. “Then came the ‘For You’ feed that maximizes engagement through enragement. Doomscrolling results; it hacks the human brain’s reward system”.
To counter this, Tang promotes “bridging systems” — digital tools designed to highlight shared perspectives rather than amplify extremes. Taiwan has tested these models through online platforms such as Polis, which enable people with opposing views to find areas of agreement. Tang noted that similar features now appear in X’s Community Notes and in experimental fact-checking tools on YouTube and Facebook.
“It’s about surfacing uncommon ground,” Tang said. “Not the loudest extremes, but the subtle points where people actually agree”.
A Different Approach to Regulation
Tang emphasized that Taiwan avoids censoring content, focusing instead on changing incentives for tech companies. One example is the idea of “social portability,” which allows users to take their social networks with them when moving to other platforms.
“It’s the social-network analogue of number portability in telecom,” Tang said. “Competition shifts to quality of service, not lock-in”.
That thinking shaped Taiwan’s rapid response to a wave of deepfake scams in early 2024. When fake ads featuring celebrities flooded YouTube and Facebook, the government convened a citizens’ assembly of 450 randomly selected residents. Their proposals — requiring digital signatures on endorsements, holding platforms liable for scam ads and mandating local representation — led to an Anti-Fraud Act with tough penalties passed within months.
“Bottom-up deliberation produced rapid, cross-party regulation,” Tang said. “Result: those deepfake ads markedly diminished in Taiwan”.
Pre-Bunking Over Debunking
Tang said Taiwan’s philosophy is to defuse harmful narratives before they take root. During the pandemic, officials countered political divisions over masks with humor, using a Shiba Inu mascot to remind people that masks “protect your face from your own unwashed hands.”
“We favor pre-bunking over debunking — humor over rumor,” Tang said.
Building an “Immune System” for AI
While many governments frame artificial intelligence as a threat, Tang sees its potential to strengthen societies if developed openly. Taiwan is working with global partners on ROOST — Robust Open Online Safety Tools — which brings together mid-sized platforms like Bluesky and Roblox to share defenses against harmful AI-generated content.
“Attackers are decentralized; centralized defense breaks down,” Tang said. “So we need decentralized defenses too, like an immune response”.
Tang argues that journalism and civic participation are also essential. In Taiwan, primary school students build air-quality sensors, middle schoolers fact-check presidential debates, and teens can launch e-petitions that government ministries must answer.
“Journalism is not only a profession; it’s a civic muscle anyone can practice,” Tang said. “We shifted from media literacy to media competency”.
Lessons for Small Nations
Tang said smaller countries, especially island states, can also benefit from these approaches. She pointed to Utah’s new “Digital Choice Act,” which requires interoperability between social platforms, and said similar laws could help small nations avoid dependence on platforms that amplify division.
“The remedy is structural interoperability,” she said. “Require big tech to forward the social graph to family-friendly or pro-social local platforms — or apply measured traffic controls until they comply. The tech is open source and not rocket science; small nations can adopt these laws and join a ruleset for fair competition”.
Tang herself is a digital resident of Palau, where the government offers online residency to foreign innovators. She said initiatives like digital residency and e-government can help smaller nations expand their international presence without the constraints of geography. “Digital resources are anti-rivalrous — like language, they become more useful as more people use them,” she said.
Global Recognition
Tang’s vision of digital democracy has drawn international recognition. TIME magazine named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence in 2023, citing her efforts to align technology with civic trust. She continues to speak at global forums on digital governance, AI ethics and open innovation, positioning Taiwan as a model for how democracies can adapt to the digital age.
A Model Built on Trust
For Tang, Taiwan’s experience shows that democratic innovation can emerge from crisis. The island faced sharp political polarization a decade ago but has since become one of the least socially polarized among peer democracies, she said.
“To give no trust is to get no trust,” Tang said. “Democracies need to move from vertical control to horizontal co-creation, strengthening civic care”.
As Taiwan expands its role in global technology and digital governance, Tang hopes that these lessons can help others turn technology’s double-edged sword into a force for trust and inclusion.
