A China-based network of Facebook accounts posed as liberal Americans to post about Republicans, company says
Ben Nimmo, Meta’s global threat intelligence lead, told reporters that the network was unusual because unlike previous China-based influence operations that focused on promoting narratives about America to the rest of the world, this network was intended to influence U.S. users abut Americans topics months ahead of the 2022 contests.“This operation we have taken down now was the first one that focused on both sides of U.S. hot-button issues,” he said.
China has emerged as a potent outlet for disinformation and propaganda on social media in recent months, including promoting pro-Kremlin messages about the war in Ukraine. Official Chinese social media channels have shared false claims about neo-Nazi control of the Ukrainian government.In the network Meta took down, China-based accounts posed as liberal Americans living in Florida, Texas and California while posting criticism of the Republican Party.
Separately, Meta said it disrupted the largest Russia-based influence operation it’s taken down since the start of the war in Ukraine. That operation used a network of over 60 websites impersonating legitimate news organizations in Europe to promote articles that criticized Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees and argued that Western sanctions on Russia would backfire.
The operation posted these narratives across multiple social media channels including Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, as well as websites such as Change.org and Avaaz.com, according to the report. The network originated in Russia and targeted users in Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, the report said.
Meta began its investigation into that operation after reviewing public reporting on some of the network’s activity by investigative journalists in Germany, according to the report.
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