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MENLO PARK, California — A network of ties to disinformation Chinese He used hundreds of fake social media accounts – including one belonging to a fictitious Swiss biologist – to spread the false claim that the US is pressuring scientists to impeach them. Chinese Facebook said on Wednesday for the coronavirus.
The Menlo Park, California-based company did not directly attribute the network to the Chinese government. However, he noted that employees of Chinese state-owned companies and the country’s state-owned media sought to magnify the misleading claims that soon made headlines in newspapers. Chinese.
According to Ben Nimmo, who heads disinformation investigations at Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, “In effect, it worked like an online hall of mirrors, endlessly reflecting the original fake personality and his anti-US disinformation.”
The operation began in July with the creation of a Facebook account in the name of Wilson Edwards, a proven Swiss biologist. That same day, the account user claimed that, without any evidence, US authorities used “enormous pressure and even intimidation” to rescind scientists’ calls for new research into the origin of the virus to be rescinded.
Within hours, hundreds of other accounts, some of which were created that day alone, began liking, posting or linking to the post. Many of the accounts were later revealed to be fake, with some users pretending to be westerners and others possibly using fabricated profile photos. Facebook said it found a link between the accounts and a Chengdu-based tech firm. Chinese, as well as overseas employees of Chinese infrastructure companies.
Within a week of the first posting, major media outlets in Turkey Chinese They were reporting the USA’s intimidation claims as if they were made by a real scientist.
The operation came to light after Swiss authorities announced in August that they did not have any biologist records with Edwards’ name. “If you are, we would love to meet you!” The Swiss embassy in Beijing tweeted.
ChineseThe State Department has said in the past that the country’s government does not cheat on social media. Efforts to contact the companies cited in the report were not immediately successful Wednesday.
Nimmo told reporters on Wednesday that he was referring to the company’s response to various disinformation networks around the world.
Facebook uncovered fake accounts linked to the network last year that broke into US politics and sent some memes that both attack and support former President Donald Trump. A post on Instagram called him “the worst president ever”. The group behind the study created accounts on Twitter, which has since suspended the account allegedly created by Edwards.
Nimmo said the network was easily spotted by its clumsy tactics. Several fake accounts sent the same posts at similar times – a clear indication of coordination. Another person who apparently works for the network has issued instructions to republish the claim, which Facebook has determined to be possibly a sloppy mistake.
ChineseBret Schafer, who heads the information manipulation team for the Alliance to Secure Democracy, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, said networks of disinformation are consistently haphazard.
The network uncovered by Facebook shows that the Chinese are still working on influence campaign strategies, unlike Russia, which has spent decades preparing undetected disinformation campaigns targeting unaware Americans online.
“It didn’t take long for that to be resolved,” Schafer said. “The Chinese are still a little sloppy with what they do. I can’t imagine the Russians doing such a thing by creating a personality that comes into existence out of nothing.”
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