How a Chinese network of fake Facebook accounts influenced online debate on South China Sea, US politics
- Facebook has removed two networks for ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’, one of them originating from China
An investigation by Facebook and a partner analytics firm has detailed how a network of social accounts from China tried to interfere with online political debate on hot-button topics ranging from the South China Sea to US politics.
Internet experts said the findings indicate an increasingly forthright attempt by Beijing to shape global discussion on the country’s policies and its relations with others, regardless of whether these tactics actually work.
“China’s propaganda campaigns conducted via overseas social media are becoming more aggressive and hawkish than ever,” said Fang Kecheng, an assistant professor of journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Facebook said on Tuesday it had removed two networks for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”, one of them originating from China. A total of 115 Facebook accounts and six Instagram accounts were taken down.
While these accounts allegedly used virtual private networks (VPN) to hide the source of their traffic, Facebook said it managed to trace them to the southern Chinese province of Fujian. The company did not elaborate on how they tracked down the location of the accounts and whether they were tied to the Chinese government.
