Facebook disabled a Chinese campaign to influence elections in the United States

In a statement released on Tuesday, the giant social networks He reported that a network of coordinated accounts from China pretended to be liberal American citizens to post opinions on important topics like the following on Facebook and Instagram. abortion or possession of a gun was called to mark a large portion of legislative elections. those fake accounts They also attacked conservative politicians. United States of America What Ron DeSantisFlorida governor who already appears to be his heir donald trumpor senators Ted Cruz Y blonde frame.

This campaign of political manipulation was active between autumn 2021 and last summer, when Meta – as these propaganda and disinformation operations are known – detected and disabled unfounded coordinated activity. The company blocked 81 Facebook accounts, two Instagram accounts, and several pages and groups.

Selection effect (limited)

Meta explained that the impact of this network is limited. His messages, broadcast during Chinese business hours, not when Americans were awake, received little attention.

Even so, they warned this campaign was going a dangerous step further because instead of spreading critical narratives Washington tried to impress US citizens around the world – as is more common – shortly before the election. “This operation we are currently conducting was the first to focus on both sides of America’s burning problems,” said Ben Nimmo, Meta’s head of global threat intelligence. “Although unsuccessful, it is important as it marks a new direction for Chinese influence operations,” he said.