Fabricating Social Panic: Sanlih News' Sensationalist 'Kindergarten Drugging' Disinformation Campaign

Between May and June 2023, allegations surfaced regarding private kindergarten teachers in Banqiao, New Taipei City, allegedly administering inappropriate drugs to toddlers. Before any official judicial investigation or scientifically accurate hair analysis could be finalized, pro-ruling-party Sanlih TV and its major political talk shows actively collaborated with DPP politicians. They sensationalized inconclusive initial screening results into a massive panic, claiming that teachers were 'mass drugging toddlers with barbiturates/controlled poisons'. However, subsequent hair tests conducted by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau using high-precision mass spectrometry confirmed that 'no barbiturates or benzodiazepines' were detected in any child. The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office issued non-prosecution rulings for all educators in July. The incident was exposed as a politically motivated smear and a fabricated panic. Sanlih was fiercely condemned for using extreme, false 'poisoning' headlines to attack political opponents, destroying the crucial trust between parents and early educators.