Aug. 29 (UPI) — In a recently released report, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, revealed that it dismantled a covert digital influence operation orchestrated by China. The operation aimed to discredit U.S. institutions and the West while promoting China’s own agenda across more than 50 social media platforms.
Meta stated that on Facebook alone, users associated with Chinese law enforcement gained over 550,000 followers by spreading unfounded claims about the U.S. government’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and attacking the White House’s support for Taiwan.
The report also highlighted Chinese-linked users on Reddit pushing a conspiracy theory accusing former British Prime Minister Liz Truss of involvement in the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Additionally, users on platforms like Medium, YouTube, X, and Quora specifically targeted Chinese dissidents with criticism.
“This campaign was executed by operators based in different regions of China who appeared to have centrally provided internet access and content,” stated Meta in its report. “It included positive commentary about China and its province Xinjiang, as well as criticism of the United States, Western foreign policies, journalists, and researchers who are critical of the Chinese government.
“Our investigation revealed links to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement. We were also able to connect this network to the ‘Spamouflage’ operation, which has been targeted and removed by Meta and other companies since 2019.”
Meta’s global lead for threat intelligence, Ben Nimmo, stated in an interview with CNBC that the company started the investigation by examining potential China links on its own platforms, leading them to discover connections across various social media sites.
“These operations are extensive, but they lack sophistication, and we have not observed any clear signs of them attracting genuine audiences on our platform or elsewhere on the Internet,” said Nimmo. “Taken together, we believe Spamouflage is the largest known cross-platform covert influence operation to date.
“Although the individuals behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation identified links to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement.”
The cybersecurity team at Meta stated in their report that these findings provide insight for preparing for the 2024 election and developing strategies to combat similar widespread spam campaigns.
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