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in january of 2020, the taiwanese presidential election was held. during the voting period, a massive amount of misleading information was spread on the internet, so-called fake news. this picture shows the political opposition waving chinese flags. it is also completely fake. someone even impersonated president trump on twitter and expressed support for a politician opposing the president. >> to all americans, i say it is time -- >> fake news became a major

concern in the 2016 american presidential election and is widely believed to have influenced its outcome. the possibility of fake news influencing the government poses a serious threat to the citizens of taiwan. this is particularly true due to the high use of social media there. 80% of the population uses social media suchs facebook or line. incorrect facts can spread in the blink of an eye affecting countless voters. like these radio journalists

raising awareness, new efforts have launched to protect society from the threat of fake news. now, taiwanese youth are placing a spotlight on incorrect remarks by politicians. instead of taking political statements at face value, they carefully scrutinize the information and spread the results before misinformation has had the chance to take root.

>> although their battle is waged behind the scenes, these men and women face down a rushing tide of information with the political future of taiwan at stake. taipei, the political center of taiwan. it is home to 2.6 million people. over 10% of the total population. in december 2019, the elections were just a month away. the city streets were covered with posters for the candidates. this election held once every four years shapes the future of

taiwan. in the general election, tsai ing-wen of the democratic progressive party, or dpp, south election. her opponent was han kuo-yu. the election was by and large a showdown between these two candidates. one point of contention was the distance maintained from mainland china. han kuo-yu advocating improving relations and restructuring the economy. conversely, the dpp which maintains a self-reliant stance had tsai ing-wen promoting distance from china and sovereignty for taiwan.

>> the ngo taiwan fact check center based in central taipei takes on the mission of verifying information around the election. it was founded in 2018 and continues to operate thanks to private endowments and donations. the chief editor is a veteran of the media who worked for nearly two decades at major newspapers. along with former journalists, she puts potential internet fake news under a magnifying glass. the results of their investigations are released to various media outlets. here, she contributed to a radio

program by phone. >> today they address an especially relevant

>> chen believes that fake news creates animosity between the political parties, driving a wedge into society. there's another recent news piece that concerns chen. this photo shows a large scale demonstration against nationalist kacandidates. it is featured heavily in the media. but some have called it out as a

fake photo made to discredit the politicians.

>> through their intensive examinations of the media, the group has pointed out over 250 pieces of fake news. >> whenever elections are near, false information begins to spread like wild fire. one group of young inquiring minds uses a unique method to assess information at political rallies as well. this video shows their work.

their project works to immediately analyze political statements and expose any inconsistencies on the internet. >> the taiwan local elections in 2018 were the first attempt to check along with a live broadcast.

>> their office occupies one floor of an aging multi-tenant building. >> wang xi is the project leader. >> their staff consists of 15 members. mainly in their 30s, they eagerly convey information and opinions on politics in taiwan.

>> their group name is watchout, for the importance of keeping a watchful eye on those in power. watchout is funded by donations from internet users and ordinary citizens. this lets it maintain its independence stance without influence from a particular party or group.

wang and his colleagues established the group in 2013 when a certain event encouraged him to take a new interest in politics. at the time, taiwanese citizens had marched in a demonstration in front of the presidential office building. they were protesting the sudden death of a young soldier who had been subjected to abuse, after which the defense ministry had attempted to conceal the incident. wang joined the protests, rallying many others to the cause. they pressured the defense ministry to issue an apology and establish new laws preventing such abuse.

>> wang is also kept busy with a night job. he teaches math at a cram school. he started over ten years ago when he was still at university. since his earnings at watchout aren't enough to sustain him, the course fees from his teaching are essential to his livelihood. he instructs his students on more than how to increase test scores.

>> three weeks before the general election.

on this date, a presentation was held in which each candidate promoted their political beliefs and policies. two hours before the broadcast, wang and the other members of watchout were on the way to the tv station. >> as the first broadcast before the election, an undercurrent of tension ran through the area around the station.

>> they came here because watchout received a request to monitor the live broadcast on site. by performing swift checks against the statements of the candidates, they were expected to boost information reliability. the station prepared a dedicated room for wang and his staff. their checks were made immediately while the program was still live. they later released results for the entire broadcast on their youtube channel. at 7:00 p.m., the broadcast

commenced. each candidate received three 10-minute blocks during which to make speeches. watchout was poised so as not to miss a single point of it began with incumbent tsai ing-wen. wang acted quickly.

>> the group jumped into action. they were able to locate official statistics on the internet. calculating the number of visitors in each year, they examined the legitimacy of the statement. theesulted indicated that tsai ing-wen's remark had a high degree of accuracy. next spoke han kuo-yu who emphasized the need to restructure the economy.

>> unexpected remarks are the best test of the team's skills. after 30 minutes of searching,

they came up with the relevant data. carefully, they total it out. >> they concluded that han's statement was likely to be inaccurate. next was tsai ing-wen's follow up. the new southbound policy promoted trade with countries including southeast asian

countries relying on china. anticipating this subject, wang had reference materials at the ready. comparing figures for 2015 and 2018 showed an increase in the total trade amount for the policy. however, the ratio of trade with the countries actually decreased slightly with a growing dependence on china. just before the broadcast was about to conclude, wang suddenly left the room. he had a commitment to appear on another news program to present the results of their current

checks. it was a vital chance to spread information beyond internet users to a broad spectrum of society. having examined ten subjects from the program, wang suggested that han kuo-yu's remarks seemed less accurate than tsai's.

>> january 11th, 2020 was election day. tsai ing-wen of the ddp was reelected president. she received more than 8 million votes, the most ever in taiwan's history. the particularly strong turnout of voters under 40 was said to have paved the way for her victory.

the voters made a conscious choice for the future of their home. as they move toward it, they'll continue to be challenged with the responsibility of choosing reliable information. ♪

>> facing isolation, more countries shut their border to the u.k. over fears of a mutated strain of covid-19. >> the situation -- anchor: causing havoc for cargo transportation, leaving trucks and drivers stranded. hello, this is al jazeera, live from doha. >> whenever you're ready. anchor: u.s. president-elect joe biden receives the covid vaccination