Shaping Political Stability in Crisis: Taiwan’s Digital Response to COVID-19 on Social Media

In the digital age, social media has emerged as both a governance tool and a site of political contestation. This study examines how digital platforms shaped public discourse and mediated state-society interaction during the initial phase of Taiwan’s COVID-19 response. Drawing on theories of digital governance and political communication, the research analyzes Facebook posts using text mining and time-series methods to detect shifts in public sentiment and policy debates. Five dominant topics were identified: domestic epidemic control, personal preventive measures, global spread updates, regional comparisons with Japan and South Korea, and geopolitical narratives involving China and the United States. The findings show that social media facilitated rapid information dissemination and citizen engagement and reflected and shaped national identity and geopolitical anxieties. This paper contributes to ongoing scholarly debates about the ambivalent role of digital tools in crisis management and democratic resilience. By foregrounding Taiwan, this study illustrates how effective digital strategies can foster public trust, reinforce collective identity, and sustain political stability during emergencies. It also highlights the risks of politicized information flows that may exacerbate polarization or external influence. Beyond the Taiwanese case, the study offers broader implications for Asian democracies confronting similar challenges. It contributes methodologically by integrating computational social science techniques with normative digital governance frameworks. Theoretically, it advances understanding of how state capacity and digital infrastructure jointly shape crisis response in hybrid information environments. Practically, it informs policymakers, platform regulators, and civic actors on designing inclusive, transparent, and adaptive communication strategies.