In Taiwan, a group is battling fake news one conversation at a time – with a focus on seniors

Students of Fake News Cleaner listen to volunteers as they learn how to use the LINE app to identify fake news during a class in Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan, on March 16, 2023. An anti-misinformation group in Taiwan called Fake News Cleaner has hosted more than 500 events, connecting with college students, elementary-school children – and the seniors that, some say, are the most vulnerable to such efforts. — AP

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Their days often began at the crack of dawn.

They’d head out to a church, a temple, a park and set up a stall. They’d seek out seniors in particular, those who are perhaps the most vulnerable citizens of the information-saturated society that has enveloped them. To get people to stop and listen, they’d offer free bars of soap – a metaphor for the scrubbing that they were undertaking.