PR-2156
November 9, 2021
The United States, Taiwan, Japan, United Kingdom, and Slovakia
Cohost Virtual Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) Workshop on
Disinformation and Media Literacy
On November 9-10, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), the British Office in Taipei, and the Slovak Office in Taipei co-hosted a virtual GCTF workshop on “Defending Democracy through Media Literacy.”
This is the third GCTF workshop to focus on disinformation and media literacy. Over 100 officials and civil society experts from over 20 countries shared lessons learned from recent elections, both in Taiwan and around the world, as well as legislative and civil society tools available to deal with disinformation.
AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk joined TFD Chairman You Si-kun, MOFA Deputy Minister Harry Tseng, JTEA Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, British Office Representative John Dennis, and Slovak Representative Martin Podstavek in delivering opening remarks.
“As open, democratic societies, the United States, Taiwan, and many others are particularly vulnerable to the pernicious effects of intentionally misleading and harmful misinformation…that seeks to undermine our people’s faith in the democratic process… By sharing lessons learned from past disinformation efforts against our electoral processes and counter-disinformation strategies from both a legal and civil society standpoint, we can together improve media literacy in our societies and strengthen our ability to defend democracy,” AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk highlighted in her opening remarks.
AIT, Taiwan’s MOFA, and the JTEA jointly administer the GCTF, which serves as a platform for Taiwan to share its expertise with partners around the world.