Join the Cyber Policy Center for Seeing Isn’t Believing How Taiwanese Online Users Detect, Share, and Respond to Deepfakes, a seminar with Dr. Trisha T. C. Lin. This talk presents findings from a web survey examining Taiwanese online users’ experiences with deepfakes, focusing on exposure, detection, and sharing behaviors. Study 1 explores the types of deepfakes encountered, detection challenges, and the motivations behind sharing or withholding such content. It highlights how demographic and political factors shape engagement patterns. Study 2 applies the Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response (SROR) model to assess how deepfake interactions influenced authentication and correction behaviors ahead of Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election. Results indicate that while deepfake exposure reduces echo chamber effects, it heightens conspiracy thinking—paradoxically encouraging proactive verification and correction. Deepfake self-efficacy emerges as a key predictor of these behaviors. Study 3 draws on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) to examine how perceived threat (severity and susceptibility) and self-efficacy inform users’ coping strategies when confronted with deepfakes. Together, these studies advance understanding of psychological and sociopolitical mechanisms underlying deepfake engagement and provide insights for enhancing digital literacy and disinformation resilience.

About the Speaker

Dr. Trisha T. C. Lin is the Distinguished Professor at College of Communication, National Chengchi University (NCCU) as well as the Director of MA in Global Communication and Innovation Technology. Previously, she worked at Nanyang Technological University. Later, she served as the Research Associate Dean at College of Communication, NCCU. She was the Harvard Yenching Scholar and the Fulbright Scholar. Her mixed-method research focuses on new media innovations, emerging ICT adoption and social impact, and AI human-machine interaction. At present, Dr. Lin is the Vice President of International Chinese Communication Association, and the Vice Chair of Taiwan Communication Association.