Chiang De-li, the eldest son of Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, has recently faced intense scrutiny from the public and the media regarding his application for public-funded study abroad programs, the legitimacy of his receiving a "Mayor's Award," and his admission process to the junior high division of the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University. Critics have questioned whether he enjoyed privileges beyond those available to ordinary citizens in obtaining educational resources, further raising concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest. This incident not only involves personal educational rights but, due to his status as a family member of a political figure, has also sparked a broad discussion on the fairness of public resource allocation. As the controversy continues to escalate, Mayor Chiang Wan-an's responses and handling of the situation have also become a focal point of observation.

According to public information on the social media platform Threads, shortly after the aforementioned controversy erupted, a large number of accounts claiming to be Chiang De-li’s "junior high classmates" emerged. These accounts densely posted highly repetitive content in his defense. Following cross-referencing and technical tracking by netizens, it was discovered that the IP addresses of these accounts were located in Indonesia. Some posts contained simplified Chinese characters, and in some instances, the subject's name was incorrectly written as "Chiang Li-de." Furthermore, some accounts exhibited clear characteristics of AI-automated responses when interacting with other users, a phenomenon that quickly triggered suspicions of an "internet army" intervening in public opinion.

Regarding this phenomenon, Chang Yu-meng, Chairman of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, stated publicly on September 6 that these "defense posts" have instead caused Chiang Wan-an to become a subject of ridicule in the public sphere, even turning into an internet meme. However, there is currently no definitive evidence linking these accounts to specific operators or their motives. While public opinion generally assumes this is an organized internet army operation, Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s stance on these accounts and whether they have any connection to his city government team remain matters of speculation and are yet to be clarified. Media coverage of this event has focused primarily on the detection of abnormal online behavior rather than confirming the direct involvement of any specific political entity.

The specific impact of this incident on Taiwanese society lies in the heightened sensitivity of the public toward the issue of privileges enjoyed by the families of political figures. This concerns not only personal integrity but also public trust in educational fairness and administrative neutrality. When the family affairs of political figures become linked to public policy resources, it often triggers skepticism regarding institutional transparency. Furthermore, the vulnerability of social media as a forum for public opinion has been re-examined; the phenomenon of overseas IP addresses intervening in Taiwan's internal political discussions has become a critical issue in public safety and information cognitive warfare, affecting the quality of policy debate and the formation of social consensus.

From different perspectives, supporters of Chiang Wan-an might argue that attacks on his family members constitute political smearing, and that the online defense may be a spontaneous reaction from supporters, which should not be over-interpreted as being officially sanctioned. However, critics argue that the formatted nature of the defense content and the abnormal IP addresses indicate a high degree of organization, which goes beyond the scope of free speech and constitutes an attempt to manipulate public opinion. Experts suggest that in the absence of clear evidence, one should avoid labeling all online discourse as the work of a specific camp's internet army to avoid falling into the trap of information warfare, and should instead focus more on the systemic issues regarding the review of public-funded study abroad and admission qualifications.

Future observations will focus on whether the Taipei City Government will provide a formal response regarding the "internet army" allegations, and whether relevant educational authorities will launch an investigation into the controversies surrounding Chiang De-li’s admission and awards. At the same time, with the evolution of digital technology, how to prevent overseas forces from using AI and automated accounts to interfere in Taiwan's social issues will be a major challenge for future public policy and internet governance. The public should continue to pay attention to the transparency of information sources and maintain critical thinking regarding abnormal operations on social media to avoid losing sight of the essence of events amidst fragmented information.