It is no secret that China is trying to influence Western societies in a more or less visible way, and above all, our perception of the activities carried out by the authorities of the Middle Kingdom. One of the simplest means to achieve this goal is social media – and not only those, which are generally Chinese.
in which he reveals one of the largest propaganda campaigns carried out by the Chinese authorities on Facebook platforms and Instagram. As part of it, thousands of accounts in a coordinated way spread the Chinese narrative on topics such as such as the persecution of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
The troll net was spreading too fake news blaming the US government for causing the COVID-19 pandemic. The fake accounts impersonated the media (“Washington Times”) and government officials – including Mr. Polish and Ukrainian authorities, the German police and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A group that Meta has christened a name “Spamouflage”, was first identified in 2019 and is expected to be directly related to Chinese law enforcement. In total, more than 8,500 accounts have been removed from the Facebook and Instagram platforms, according to the American company.
The Chinese authorities’ propaganda campaign also used other social media platforms and websites, including TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), LiverJouranal and Blogspot.
When we consider the scale of our operations, it can be said that this was the largest covert campaign we have ever dealt with
– quoted by Forbes.
Meta smashed the Chinese troll network on Facebook and Instagram
Interestingly, although Chinese propaganda activities were carried out on an unprecedented scale, according to Ben NImmo, the action turned out to be ineffective. Accounts created by internet trolls they were observed by over 560,000 users, but they were mainly … other fake accounts. “There is nothing to suggest that anywhere on the internet this operation has garnered any sort of publicity,” Ben Nimmo said.
Source: Gazeta
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