TAIPEI — China spread more than 2.5 million pieces of disputed or false online information targeting Taiwan in the first nine months of this year — yaani over 25 lakh items — the island's top intelligence agency said, accusing Beijing of stepping up operations ahead of local elections, Reuters reported. In a report to lawmakers this week, Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB) said such information rose by about 48 per cent in the first nine months of 2026, to more than 2.5 million items from more than 1.69 million a year earlier.

The bureau said the China-originated content focused on energy, food security and defence policy, as well as the platforms and images of specific candidates, in an effort to influence Taiwan's elections for city mayors and county magistrates in November. According to the Taipei Times' account of the same report, suspicious social-media accounts were behind the 2.5 million posts, and Facebook and Threads accounted for 68.9 per cent and 9 per cent respectively of all controversial content from suspicious accounts — both sharply up on last year — indicating, the bureau said, China's increasing preference for using those platforms.

The NSB said Beijing often created narratives through official media outlets before amplifying them through 'online troll armies' and public-relations firms to sow discord among Taiwanese people, using content farms, AI-generated videos, fake accounts and coordinated comment flooding. 'China has expanded the use of AI technology to manipulate information, seeking to influence voter support and election results,' the report said. The Taipei Times account added that AI is being used across stages of cyberattacks — probing for weaknesses, target-seeking and searching for zero-day exploits — and that the bureau believes Beijing would leverage technology and human intelligence, including fake polls and AI-generated content aimed at Taiwan's domestic wedge issues, to influence next month's elections. These are the bureau's allegations, reported as such.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. Beijing, which views Taiwan as its own territory over the island's objections, has previously denied interfering in Taiwanese elections or spreading disinformation. Taiwan has repeatedly complained about what it sees as China's 'grey-zone' tactics — from daily military drills to cyberattacks — at a time when Beijing is ramping up military and political pressure to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims.

Sources: Reuters, 'Taiwan security agency flags rise in Chinese disinformation ahead of local elections', 20-21 October 2026 (via DevDiscourse); Taipei Times report on the NSB report to lawmakers (via Europe Says / Skeptic Society), October 2026.