War is no longer just a confrontation between military forces. It is also massive disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing a society and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. To defend against the cognitive war led by China, Taiwan relies not only on its government but also on its civic hackers.
Josh does it to “have an impact.” Chewei is inspired by hackathons, programming marathons, where technological solutions are found for social problems. And Peter wants to introduce the benefits of digital democracy to as many Taiwanese as possible.
Although their numbers are difficult to assess, Taiwan’s civic hackers are undeniably active and motivated. For about fifteen years, they have been rooted in the political life of the island encouraging a shift towards a more digital democracy.
In 2022, Taipei appointed one of Taiwan’s most prominent civic hackers, Audrey Tang, to head the new Ministry of Digital Affairs. By bringing transparency and openness to the government, she also became the first transgender minister in Asia.
“The nice hacker,” “the Minister of Transparency,” “a new way of governing”: the press was excited. Since then, Taiwan has been often described as a laboratory for digital democracy, using technological tools to increase citizen participation.
To explain the vitality of the civic tech community, Peter is poignant: “Action is our remedy against anxiety,” he says, wearing a gray hat. A large proportion of engineers, like him, are present on the island, creating a fertile ground, he points out.
Additionally, China’s threats to Taiwan’s democratic future have spurred citizen participation. It was during the Sunflower Movement in 2014 that Taiwan’s civic hackers community took off and caught the attention.
Fearing a democratic setback, young people blocked the signing of a trade agreement with China by occupying the parliament. Overnight, civic hackers developed an infrastructure for live-streaming the protests happening inside the parliamentary compound.
“They became famous worldwide,” recalls Rosalind Liu, who participated in the mobilization without any background in computer science. “Many people realized at that moment that even if we are not engineers, we can contribute,” she explains.
The signature of civic hackers
Propelled by its success, the g0v community – behind this feat – gained credibility instantly, even among the political elite. “The government realized the urgency and importance of rebuilding public trust,” says Peter in a café in Taipei. “And they decided to collaborate with g0v.”
Two years earlier, this group of computer engineers had made headlines by developing a website that visualized the weight of each government expenditure. A kind of civic hacking protest against the lack of government transparency of that time.
From hackathon to hackathon – intensive collaborative events to solve problems through technology – g0v continued to forge its path in Taiwan’s democratic life. Taipei has drawn inspiration from its ideas, particularly in times of crisis.
At a g0v gathering in March, in Taipei, Chewei, one of the community’s most influential members, reminisces. During the pandemic, g0v developers created an interactive map to inform the public in real-time about the availability of masks.
And the idea of an app detecting contacts with infected people emerged. “It was an idea discussed in our Slack channel [with 15,000 members, a few hundred active]. Since our exchanges and programs are open and free, everyone can use our ideas,” explains Chewei, summarizing g0v’s philosophy.
Bears and Consensus
The projects of these civic hackers – who volunteer their time – are not just political. Josh began by developing a platform for Taiwanese to report bear sightings during forest walks. A grassroots approach to prevent unexpected encounters.
<p"It's rewarding to see how technology-focused people can become meaningful actors by building something constructive for society," he emphasizes. Today, the engineer spends his free time with vTaiwan, a platform aiming to enhance dialogue between the government and citizens.
Peter is the orchestrator. Since its inception in 2014, vTaiwan – a creation of g0v – has held 30 public consultations using digital tools, mainly through the citizen consultation platform Pol.is. The goal is to create consensus around public policies. vTaiwan was notably used to develop regulations surrounding Uber in 2015 – its most famous contribution.
A Lab to Fine-Tune
Although Taiwan is considered a laboratory for digital democracy, its government does not always listen. For Taipei to follow these modern consultations, the topics must generally touch emerging areas, like digital technologies, “where the government lacks knowledge and existing policies,” Peter analyzes.
In more traditional areas like health or education, deliberation remains the realm of elected officials. These digital tools also remain largely the domain of younger generations, points out E-Ling Chiu, national director of Amnesty International Taiwan.
<p"It relies on people who have internet access and know how to use these platforms. For older people, it's quite difficult to express their opinions [through digital democracy tools]," she says.
Discussions sometimes veer off from the grassroots, adds Kuan-Ju Chou, digital rights manager at Taiwan Human Rights. “The public doesn’t always have the ability or time to participate in these discussions,” she says, noting that it’s often lawyers or specialized stakeholders who participate, rather than regular citizens.
Intersecting Paths
Since the early successes of Taiwan’s civic hackers, many 0s and 1s have made their way into Taiwanese democracy. Over the years, Audrey Tang has left the government, hackathons attract fewer participants, and digital democracy tools face some limitations.
“We have a sustainability problem – it’s always a challenge for a community,” stresses Rosalind Liu, now working at the Open Culture Foundation, an organization bridging open-source organizations and the government.
But ideas are emerging to ensure continuity. g0v launched the Sc001 project to promote civic engagement and digital skills among Taiwanese students. And the g0v brand still seems to have a strong appeal.
At the g0v gathering in March, a young graduate enters for the first time. “I’ve been following the movement for two years, but it’s the first time I’m here,” says Hung Yino, who wants to participate in a collaborative project on wartime communications.
A reminder that the Chinese threat is still present and that Taiwanese democracy is worth defending – and not just by elected officials. “And also, because I thought it looked cool,” he adds with a smile.
With Lucie Wang
This report was made possible thanks to a grant from the Quebec International Journalism Fund.
