Taiwan's election commission has formally kicked off the campaign for its nationwide local elections, with a new focus on stopping AI fakes and foreign meddling — a warning sign of how contested the vote could get.

• Taiwan will pick more than 11,000 local officials on November 28, with about 19.65 million people eligible to vote.
• The scale is huge: over 18,000 polling stations and more than 300,000 workers once referendums are counted in.
• The commission has set up a task force against AI deepfake videos, working with prosecutors and national security agencies.
• Candidates get a new government reporting site to request fast takedowns of fake videos of themselves.
• Vote-counting computers are being security-tested with the digital ministry and Chunghwa Telecom to block outside interference.

Outlook: Expect deepfakes and disinformation — much of it likely traced to Chinese influence efforts — to become a central fight over the next 100 days of campaigning.