Taiwan's ruling DPP is ramping up legal defenses in its Taipei mayoral race as fake AI videos targeting candidates spread online, a move that's good for election integrity but shows how big a problem deepfakes have become.

• The DPP's Taipei branch assembled a team of 34 lawyers to fight deepfake videos and smear campaigns, with 30 days left before the nine-in-one elections.
• The lawyers will be on standby at party headquarters on voting day to handle disputes and legal questions as they come up.
• Officials pointed to a deepfake video of candidate Puma Shen made back in June, which spread across social platforms before the people responsible admitted wrongdoing in court.
• The party is warning the public not to forward suspicious videos without checking them first, since sharing fake content can carry legal risk too.
• The DPP also recruited over a thousand poll watchers to monitor voting stations, and a televised debate between incumbent Chiang Wan-an and challenger Puma Shen is set for this Saturday.

Outlook: Expect deepfake and disinformation concerns to keep escalating as Taiwan's election nears, with legal action likely against anyone caught creating or spreading fake candidate videos.