what do you see inside Internet It may be planted to try to manipulate you. Owner company Facebook, AimIt announced on Tuesday that it was shutting down a major digital operation to influence global public opinion. Chinese. The Asian giant’s security forces may be behind a secret campaign that has also spread negative comments about its rivals. United States of America.
Meta reported in its report that up to 7,704 Facebook accounts, 954 pages and 15 groups, as well as 15 more Facebook accounts were removed. instagram Active since 2018. Both are illegal on Chinese soil. In addition, hundreds of accounts from other accounts were also included in the influence operation. social networks like Tiktok, YouTubeX (previously known) excitement), Blogspot, and LiveJournal. In total, it would have a presence on at least 50 digital platforms.
“This is the biggest crackdown of a single network we’ve ever done,” said Ben Nimmo, head of Meta’s security team dealing with global threats. “If we put together all the activities on the Internet, we conclude that this is the largest covert campaign we know today.”
Meta noted that the aim of this campaign appears to be to “learn and imitate” influence operations. Russia, expert at her topic disinformation digital. Pro-Chinese messages were broadcast in Mandarin as well as languages such as French, Russian, German, Korean, Thai or Welsh.
Destinations to Beijing
The meta report shows that the different groups that are now eliminated will be led by law enforcement in different parts of China, but they work in shifts with lunch breaks during office hours. Beijing. The pro-China accounts reportedly amassed around 560,000 Facebook followers, but the tech company believes most of them are fake accounts purchased from spammers in countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam.
government Xi Jinping He claimed to know nothing about these findings and questioned the Meta report. The spokesperson added, “We hope that the relevant company will adhere to the principle of objectivity and impartiality, and avoid double standards. Really detect what the lies and rumors are, what the truth is, and effectively eliminate misinformation about China.” said. Wang Wenbin from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Just last August, Meta disabled for the first time a coordinated pro-Western influence campaign to support the US’s pro-Western vision. Ukraine and on the contrary Kremlin Among users in Asia and the Middle East.
Even so, Meta emphasizes that the long-running influence campaign will be largely ineffective. “This operation was big and noisy, but it was having a hard time getting through its own false echo chamber,” Nimmo added. Some posts were incompatible and others were full of grammatical errors.
dual voltage
This is the seventh pro-Chinese influence operation Meta has closed in the last six years. Last year, the company removed more than a hundred fake accounts from its platforms that were trying to spread the relevant messages in an attempt to influence the presidential election. United States of America It will be held in 2024.
The campaign’s end comes at a particularly complicated time in relations between the two countries. Washington and Beijing. After approaching positions in June, US president in August Joe Biden He signed an administrative order emphasizing his rival’s technological blockade, and a few days later signed a historic deal with Japan and South Korea to take control of the Asian giant. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is currently in China, where she will meet with government officials and Chinese businessmen to discuss trade relations.