Taiwan's Taipei mayoral campaign is turning ordinary people into targets, and that is bad news for the country's political culture.

• A century-old Songshan eatery let candidate Puma Shen sign its wall, which uncovered an old signature from current mayor Chiang Wan-an underneath a menu.
• Anonymous accounts flooded the shop with thousands of one-star reviews within hours, most with no reason given beyond "bad food."
• The owners were rattled enough to refuse interviews and eventually painted over the whole wall.
• A Hsinchu high school student who asked Shen to sign her award certificate was next, turned into a mocking meme spread through opposition chat groups.
• Backing a favorite politician in public used to be a point of pride in Taiwan, the very freedom people in China, Hong Kong and Macau envy.

Outlook: Expect more of this as the mayoral race heats up unless candidates on both sides publicly rein in their own supporters.