2024

Taiwan Internet Report

Taiwan Internet Report

Research Methodology

Current State of AI Technology Usage and Literacy

• This section examines Taiwanese public's experience with AI applications, including digital voice assistants and ChatGPT. It investigates current AI literacy levels and risk perception among citizens, while also exploring public attitudes toward legal regulations of AI technology in today's society. The findings help understand Taiwanese citizens' grasp of AI technology, providing a reference basis for AI policy and legal framework development.

Current Status and Experience with AI Chatbots

AI Literacy Among Taiwanese Citizens: Awareness Literacy

• This survey asked: 'I can clearly distinguish which products and services utilize AI and which do not (for example, distinguishing between AI and human customer service online).' Results show that 69.47% tend to agree (including those who responded 'Strongly agree' and 'Agree', as applies below), while 26.46% tend to disagree (including those who responded 'Strongly disagree' and 'Disagree', as applies below). The significant gap indicates that nearly 70% of Taiwanese citizens believe they can clearly distinguish between AI and non-AI services.

AI Literacy Among Taiwanese Citizens: Usage Literacy

• Among respondents with experience using digital voice assistants or ChatGPT, the survey asked: 'I am capable of using AI products or services to accomplish my intended tasks.' Results show 58.38% tend to agree while 38.77% tend to disagree. The relatively small gap indicates that while a majority of Taiwanese citizens believe they can use AI to complete specific tasks, nearly 40% still struggle to effectively utilize AI as an assistive tool.

AI Literacy Among Taiwanese Citizens: Evaluation Literacy

• Regarding the evaluation aspect of AI literacy, the survey asked: 'After using AI products or services, I clearly understand their advantages and disadvantages.' Results show 72.51% tend to agree while 24.17% tend to disagree. This significant gap indicates that most users among the Taiwanese population can clearly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of AI services and products.

AI Technology Risk Perception: Subjective Impact of AI Risks on Individuals

• 為探討受訪者主觀認知AI科技對「他人」產生的影響，本調查詢問：「目前AI人工智慧所生成的內容，可能存有偏見或是產出不正確的資訊。請問您認為，這對一般大眾有沒有影響？」結果顯示有62.10%民眾認為AI科技會他人的風險影響較大，21.26%民眾則認為影響較小，差距相當大，顯示普遍台灣民眾認為AI科技的風險對他人影響很大。

AI Technology Risk Perception: Subjective Impact of AI Risks on Others

• To explore respondents' subjective perception of AI technology's impact on 'others,' the survey asked: 'AI-generated content may contain biases or produce incorrect information. How much does this affect the general public?' Results show that 62.10% of citizens perceive high risk impact on others, while 21.26% perceive low impact. This significant gap indicates that Taiwanese citizens generally believe AI technology poses substantial risks to others.

Taiwanese Public Opinion on AI Technology Regulation

• When asked 'Which entity do you think should primarily regulate AI products or services?' results show that 73.10% of Taiwanese citizens support formal regulation (including those who chose 'Government agencies', 'Independent civilian institutions', or 'Manufacturing and publishing companies', as applies below), while 21.30% prefer no formal regulation (including those who chose 'User self-regulation' or 'No regulation needed', as applies below). Among those supporting regulation, 'Government agencies' received the highest support, while 'User self-regulation' ranked second overall. This indicates that Taiwanese citizens tend to favor formal regulation of AI technology use, with most supporters preferring government oversight, although a minority believes user self-regulation is sufficient.

Online News Consumption Behavior

The 2024 Taiwan Internet Report indicates that the separation between news content production and news access channels has likely become a reality. News media appears to no longer be people's primary source of information, but rather just one type of information source among many. This survey examines Taiwanese citizens' news consumption behavior through various aspects, including news sources, ability to verify fake news, and news avoidance attitudes.

News Sources

• Traditional television news remains the primary source of news for Taiwanese citizens. Digital platforms, including search engines, news portals, social media, instant messaging, and YouTube, account for 42.81% of primary news sources.
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News Avoidance: Is News Useful?

Over the past three months, 10.94% of Taiwanese citizens frequently avoided news consumption, while 11.62% sometimes avoided news consumption. These news avoiders total 22.55%. Meanwhile, 11.62% rarely avoided news, and 65.95% never avoided news, with non-avoiders totaling 76.53%. Overall, the proportion of news avoiders in Taiwan is significantly lower than the global average of 39% reported in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Additionally, Taiwan's news avoidance rate (22.55%) is considerably higher than the rate of those who don't consume news at all (2.23%), suggesting that news avoidance is more of an attitude rather than a reflection of actual time spent on news consumption.

National-Level Cyber Attacks

Public Risk Perception of Infrastructure Cyber Attacks

• Nearly three-quarters (74.72%) of respondents believe that Taiwan's government or infrastructure (such as power grid and telecommunications) may face foreign cyber attacks within the next year, with 31.16% considering it likely and 43.56% very likely. Only 10.58% believe such attacks are unlikely or very unlikely. Notably, 14.26% responded 'Don't know,' indicating that a significant portion of the population either lacks awareness of cyber attacks or hasn't recognized their severity. This trend is particularly pronounced among elderly citizens and those with lower educational levels.

Public Awareness of Actual Cyber Attack Incidents

• Regarding the August 2022 incident during U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, when convenience store and railway station displays showed simplified Chinese characters criticizing Pelosi, over 60% (63.08%) of respondents indicated they were completely or somewhat unfamiliar with the event.

• When asked about their familiarity with recent incidents where hackers exposed and ransomed member data from domestic airlines (including EVA Air and China Airlines), 71.98% indicated they were completely or somewhat unfamiliar. Overall, both survey results show a high proportion of citizens unfamiliar with cyber attack incidents.

Public Confidence in Government's Cyber Attack Response

• When asked whether they 'believe the government has the capability to respond to various types of cyber attacks,' 51.22% of respondents indicated complete or partial distrust, while 41.33% expressed some or complete trust. This indicates a polarized public confidence in government capabilities.

Public Democratic Beliefs

• When asked about their agreement with the statement 'To prevent cyber attacks, the government should be allowed to monitor phone calls, emails, and social media conversations,' nearly 70% (68.87%) believe the government should not monitor private communications, while approximately 20% (23.28%) expressed agreement or strong agreement.

• The survey also asked whether respondents agree that 'the government should take retaliatory or counter-attack measures against nations that conduct cyber attacks on Taiwan.' Similar to the previous question, 45.9% completely disagree or disagree, 42.86% agree or strongly agree, while 10.65% indicated 'don't know' or refused to answer.

Public Understanding of Cybersecurity Regulations

• When asked 'Based on your understanding, does the government currently have legislation specifically established for information and communication security?' only about half of the respondents (49.86%) were aware that Taiwan has specific legislation for information and communication security. Approximately 20% (21.31%) indicated that Taiwan does not have such legislation, while a significant 28.3% answered 'don't know.' This shows that the public is not familiar with existing regulations, which may explain the lack of confidence in the government's ability to handle cyber attacks.

Impact of Online Discourse

• As various online media integrate into modern life, traditional news media, once considered dominant in shaping public opinion, has become just one of many information channels. Online discourse has even begun to influence news media content. This section explores individual attention to online discourse and evaluates its impact on Taiwanese society.

Attention to Political and Public Affairs Discourse Online

• When respondents were asked about their attention to online posts or comments related to politics or public affairs, over half (52.96%) expressed interest, including 39.84% showing 'some attention,' 9.99% 'close attention,' and 3.13% 'very close attention.'

Third-Person Effect in Political and Public Affairs Online Discourse

• People believe others pay attention to online political and public affairs discourse, and subsequently make assumptions about how these discussions influence others. Survey results show that approximately 77.06% of respondents believe that 'others' are influenced by online discourse, with 42.73% 'agreeing' and 34.33% 'strongly agreeing.'

• Regarding media influence, about 77.89% of respondents believe news media is affected by online discourse, with 44.20% 'agreeing' and 33.69% 'strongly agreeing.'

Trust in Government

• When asked about their overall trust in Taiwanese government institutions, both central and local, nearly 55.97% expressed trust, with 42.99% indicating 'trust' and 12.98% 'strong trust.' However, about 36.32% expressed 'distrust' or 'strong distrust.'

Risk Perception of Orchestrated Online Discourse

• 71% of respondents agree that 'many political or public affairs-related posts and comments online are orchestrated by specific organizations (such as PR companies or political parties),' with 37.01% 'agreeing' and 33.99% 'strongly agreeing.'

Level of Participation in Online Political and Public Affairs Discourse

• When asked about their frequency of posting or responding to political or public affairs-related content online (e.g., Facebook, IG, Threads, blogs), most respondents (68.90%) reported never having done so, with less than 20% (19.22%) engaging in such activities.

Information Trust and Fraud Risk

Personal Data and Privacy Protection

• To understand Taiwanese citizens' trust in social media platforms regarding personal data and privacy protection, the survey asked social media and instant messaging users: 'Do you agree that (your most frequently used social media/instant messaging platform) protects your personal data and privacy?'
• Results show that 50.32% of social media users disagree that their most frequently used social media platforms protect their personal data and privacy. In contrast, only about 30% (33.21%) of instant messaging users disagree that their most frequently used platforms protect their personal data and privacy. Overall, Taiwanese citizens show relatively higher trust in instant messaging apps' data protection compared to social media platforms.

Fake News and Misinformation

• Beyond privacy concerns, information reliability is another crucial aspect of public trust in media platforms. Users were asked to evaluate their most frequently used social media platforms, instant messaging apps, and traditional media by responding to: 'Do you agree that (your most frequently used social media/instant messaging platform/traditional media) contains significant amounts of fake news or misinformation?'
• Survey results indicate that nearly 80% (78.82%) of social media users agree their most frequently used platforms contain significant fake news and misinformation; over 60% (63.25%) of instant messaging users agree their most used apps contain substantial fake news and misinformation; and nearly 60% (59.81%) agree traditional media contains significant fake news and misinformation.

Fraud Situation

• 64.80% of Taiwanese citizens encountered fraudulent messages through various channels in the past three months, with 3.56% suffering financial losses.

Digital Parenting

• In the digital era, children's exposure to connected devices has increased significantly, leading to 'digital parenting' phenomena where smartphones and tablets become children's important companions. While internet use has both advantages and disadvantages - potentially enhancing learning and knowledge acquisition while also risking addiction and developmental issues - this section examines how parents of children under 12 view and practice digital parenting, as well as public attitudes toward children's use of digital tools.

Current State of Digital Parenting

• The survey shows that 79.04% of parents with children under 12 allow their children to use digital devices, with the highest proportion (11.40%) introducing devices at age 2. Meanwhile, 20.96% of surveyed parents report their children under 12 do not use digital devices.

Parental Mediation Patterns in Technology Use

• Parental involvement in children's technology use is crucial for guiding proper internet usage and securing positive benefits. Regarding control over children's technology use, scholars like Valcke et al. (2010) identified four types of parental mediation patterns based on usage restrictions and communicative support dimensions.
• Overall, Taiwanese parents show higher frequency (above median) of both restrictions and discussions regarding children's internet behavior. According to Valcke et al.'s parental mediation patterns, Taiwanese parents have shifted from last year's authoritarian parenting (high restriction, low involvement) toward authoritative parenting (high restriction, high involvement).
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Expert Interviews: Digital Trust and Building a "Trustworthy AI" Society

Q: As the boundaries between real and digital life blur, with our activities in the digital world becoming increasingly profound (e.g., digital avatars, digital assets), how should trust between people and between people and organizations be established in virtual interactions as virtual technology continues to develop?

A: Establishing cybersecurity regulations and standards, ensuring personal data protection rights, increasing transparency audit mechanisms, and requiring service provider accountability and auditability are key to building 'digital trust' in the digital environment. Building a digital trust environment must emphasize information security regulations and standards, privacy protection, transparency requirements, auditability, and accountability. Ensuring individuals can exercise various personal data protection rights and increasing transparency are fundamental to establishing initial public digital trust.

Q: This year, the Ministry of Digital Affairs proposed strategies including 'industry fraud prevention,' 'public fraud prevention,' 'intelligence reporting mechanisms,' and 'source blocking' to promote smart fraud prevention and digital trust framework. How should policies be implemented to establish a social environment of 'digital trust'?

A: Combating digital fraud requires comprehensive regulations, media literacy, and enhanced public fraud prevention awareness. Beyond government legislation and strengthened platform accountability, establishing third-party trust mechanisms can enhance civil society's defense capabilities while examining the potential impact of anti-fraud legislation on individual rights and privacy. Beyond government legislation and platform accountability, defense mechanisms led by civil society can be established to enhance digital resilience. Anti-fraud legislation should involve comprehensive stakeholder discussions to avoid harm to human rights and privacy, with possible reference to EU regulations.

Q: As AI technology and applications flourish, technological risks also increase, such as algorithmic opacity, lack of explainability, deepfake chaos, and data bias. What strategies and recommendations should be considered for developing an environment and society with 'trustworthy AI' in face of AI risk challenges?

A: Establishing a 'trustworthy AI' environment requires analyzing various potential AI risks, preventing possible AI harms, and continuously examining issues related to personal data, copyright, data bias, and representation in AI training data. Conduct various AI risk analyses and prevent potential AI harms through principles, standards, technical methods, or risk prevention measures. AI training processes involve extensive data usage, necessitating attention to potential issues regarding personal data, copyright, data bias, and representation.

Focus Group Interviews: Issues and Solutions for Digital Inequality in Remote Areas

• Reducing digital divides by creating 'digital opportunities' for different groups has become a crucial issue in the information society. Digital opportunities are closely tied to real-world social inequalities. Access to real-world resources affects individual opportunities for information access. In the information society, the most disadvantaged groups have the least internet resources and digital participation opportunities, yet they are also those most in need of these resources in physical society. According to historical Taiwan Internet Reports, urban residents and young people are the most active users of digital technologies. However, this study specifically focuses on disadvantaged groups with limited digital participation opportunities in the real world, particularly in remote areas, indigenous communities, and elderly populations, attempting to understand their current digital technology usage, internet needs, digital inequality challenges, and the feasibility of information technology empowerment.
• This study employed purposive sampling, first selecting two indigenous communities (Shilin Village and Xiangbi Village) in Tai'an Township, Miaoli County, based on the Ministry of the Interior's definition of remote areas. A focus group discussion was held on May 23, 2024, at the Shilin Cultural Health Station in Shilin Village, Tai'an Township, Miaoli County. Participants included six elderly residents over 65 years old from Shilin and Xiangbi villages, one indigenous language translator, one caregiver, and two cultural health station managers from both villages.

Current Digital Technology Usage: Entertainment-Focused Internet Activities with Passive Information Reception

• Early studies of digital inequality primarily focused on computer ownership and internet access rates among individuals and households. This study finds that with the widespread adoption of smartphones, elderly residents in remote areas can now conveniently access the internet through smartphones even if they're not proficient with computers. Therefore, current discussions of digital inequality should focus on creating digital opportunities that meet remote residents' life needs rather than merely tracking computer ownership rates and overall internet access.
• The study reveals that elderly residents in remote areas primarily use the internet for entertainment and leisure. Using LINE for calls is their most basic online activity, along with gaming and watching videos (mostly from YouTube or TikTok), with some using Facebook. Their internet usage is predominantly entertainment-oriented.
• Elderly residents in remote areas tend to be passive in information reception, with few actively seeking information online. Despite owning smartphones and knowing about abundant online resources, many rely on younger family members to find information for them. While they express interest in learning more internet applications, unfamiliarity with interfaces and age-related challenges (poor eyesight, memory issues) affect their ability to access online resources. Additionally, while some have considered online shopping, concerns about fraud risk often lead them to rely on family members instead.
• While internet applications continue to diversify, elderly residents in remote areas don't necessarily need to embrace the modern digital world. For them, internet access doesn't significantly impact their daily routines. Therefore, creating opportunities that meet their real-life needs is more important than encouraging online engagement.

Digital Inequality Issues: Telemedicine Aligns with Remote Elderly Needs but Requires Changed Perspectives and Integrated Support

• Remote areas are predominantly populated by elderly residents, making healthcare their primary daily need. Responding to insufficient medical resources in remote areas and an aging society, the government has actively promoted telemedicine and long-term care policies. Since December 2020, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has implemented the "National Health Insurance Telemedicine Program," enabling specialist physicians to jointly examine patients with local doctors through video communications, offering remote consultations in ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dermatology, cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, pulmonology, and emergency medicine. Among 64 mountain and island townships nationwide, 50 townships and 9 emergency care networks now provide remote consultation services.
• Telemedicine overcomes geographical and transportation limitations, enabling better healthcare quality for remote residents through technology. Post-COVID-19, telemedicine has evolved from an emergency measure to a potential future lifestyle. The study finds that while video consultations are increasingly available in remote areas, not all medical specialties can provide this service, affecting elderly residents' willingness to use it. Interviewee #4, Mr. Lin, a cultural health station operator, notes: "For rehabilitation and physical therapy, video consultation alone is insufficient without equipment and on-site guidance, yet these services are in high demand among elderly tribal residents, especially those with knee problems or stroke conditions."
• Implementing telemedicine in rural areas requires coordination with other social resources. Long-standing transportation difficulties have created medication access challenges that remain unresolved. Interviewee #9, Ms. Yang, discussed the video consultation services during the Covid-19 pandemic: "The issue is medication pickup - we still need to travel to get it. Since we don't have a pharmacy here, we might as well just see the doctor in person." For these residents, even with video consultations, they ultimately need to find ways to obtain medication, making in-person hospital visits a more practical choice. Furthermore, the trust in doctor-patient relationships through video consultations falls short compared to in-person visits. Interviewee #5, Mr. Yang, who manages the Cultural Health Station, noted: "The elderly (in local tribes) have this mindset! They want to go to the hospital - they're just happy to see doctors in person. Getting an injection is even better, plus they can shop for other things."
• While telemedicine services are available in rural areas, limitations such as incomplete specialty care coverage and medication access difficulties persist. Combined with the lack of trust-building that comes with face-to-face consultations, elderly community members prefer visiting nearby hospitals. Therefore, successful implementation of rural telemedicine services requires changing community elders' perspectives and integrating other social resources and supporting measures to establish a more comprehensive telemedicine and long-term care system.

Potential Information Technology Empowerment Solutions: Community Care Centers as Catalysts

• In an aging society, community-based care has become the primary model for long-term care. Community care centers and indigenous cultural health stations provide various healthcare services and health promotion information. These stations emphasize indigenous cultural preservation alongside healthcare, developing culturally sensitive local care models to bridge healthcare and social welfare resource gaps between indigenous and urban areas.
• These centers serve as main venues for elderly residents' health promotion and social interaction, potentially creating health-focused digital opportunities. The study finds that these locations often provide better internet access than residents' homes. Care workers help elderly residents access technology and learn to use health-related digital resources. For example, LINE groups facilitate communication, and video features are increasingly used with family members.
• The study also reveals ongoing public-private partnerships implementing health management technology in remote tribal health stations. This includes equipment for transmitting health measurements to local health bureaus and online exercise programs. However, challenges remain, such as language barriers and the need for age-appropriate content. Future success depends on developing customized digital health programs considering community characteristics and elderly residents' physical conditions.