From Protests to Progress: Audrey Tang and g0v Lead Taiwan’s Fight for Transparency and Democracy

Taiwan’s government faced widespread dissatisfaction in 2014, leading to an approval rating of less than 10%. This triggered the Sunflower Movement, a student-led protest against a proposed trade deal with China. Three weeks later, the students’ demands were met, marking a turning point in Taiwanese democracy.

Out of the movement emerged a civic technology cooperative called g0v, led by Audrey Tang, a well-known hacker. g0v created vTaiwan, a virtual platform for democratic deliberation. Tang, who has faced health challenges in her life and became the country’s first transgender minister, believes that the fragility of her own life mirrors that of democracy.

Tang joined the government in 2016 and introduced her vision of “radical transparency,” starting with vTaiwan. With the outbreak of covid-19 in late 2019, Tang played a crucial role as a cabinet member for digital affairs in the Taiwanese government’s response to the pandemic. By 2022, Taiwan had earned praise for its handling of the pandemic, and Tang was appointed as the country’s first minister of digital affairs. In her new book “Plurality,” she discusses how Taiwan has evolved into a thriving democracy that can offer valuable lessons to the rest of the world.