Hack the Pandemic: Lessons from How the Taiwan Government Embraced the Hacker Mindset to Embrace Digital Infrastructure and Subvert COVID-19

In an age where online systems are more important than ever, mis-application of digital infrastructures by governments erodes public trust and undermines legitimacy. This paper seeks to investigate the question of how governments can cooperate with civil society to build trust in the online space of digital infrastructures. This paper explores the case of Tai-wan’s policy approach to combating online misinformation during COVID-19 by investigating the initiatives that the government took to collaborate with civil society and leverage the advantages of digital infrastructures to bolster public trust and democratic stability.