China is using the world's largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds | CNN
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The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found.

The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found.

The onslaught of attacks – often of a vile and deeply personal nature – is part of a well-organized, increasingly brazen Chinese government intimidation campaign targeting people in the United States, documents show.

The US State Department says the tactics are part of a broader multi-billion-dollar effort to shape the world’s information environment and silence critics of Beijing that has expanded under President Xi Jinping. On Wednesday, President Biden is due to meet Xi at a summit in San Francisco.

Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. They say it’s all part of an effort to drive them into a state of constant fear and paranoia.

  • queermunist she/her
    02·
    11 months ago

    Is there proof this is coming from the government? Why can’t this just be regular trolling?

    • MicroWaveOPEnglish
      00·
      11 months ago11 months ago

      From the article:

      Private researchers have tracked the network since its discovery more than four years ago, but only in recent months have federal prosecutors and Facebook’s parent company Meta publicly concluded that the operation has ties to Chinese police.

      Meta announced in August it had taken down a cluster of nearly 8,000 accounts attributed to this group in the second quarter of 2023 alone. Google, which owns YouTube, told CNN it had shut down more than 100,000 associated accounts in recent years, while X, formerly known as Twitter, has blocked hundreds of thousands of China “state-backed” or “state-linked” accounts, according to company blogs.

      • queermunist she/her
        02·
        11 months ago11 months ago

        I don’t trust Meta or Xitter about anything else, why would I trust them on this issue?

        • zaph
          00·
          11 months ago

          You stike me as the type of person who didn’t read the article and will refuse to read any follow up articles explaining the research.

          • queermunist she/her
            02·
            11 months ago

            I’m willing to believe this is coordinated, but again, no proof that this is some kind of paid government opp. In fact, it sounds almost indistinguishable from how 4chan used to operate (before it was invaded by boomers).

    • troed
      00·
      11 months ago

      A lot, likely most, of the trolling we seem to take as a necesserary consquence of social media seems to be influence operations from Russia and China (as the largest players, of course there are others).

      That’s what strikes people the most when they go from X to Mastodon. 90% less followers, but more actual engagement and practically none of the harassment.

      It seems most people simply don’t troll.

      • queermunist she/her
        02·
        11 months ago

        But where’s the proof that China is literally paying them to troll? Why can’t this just be organic trolling from Chinese people and pro-China sympathizers that legitimately just hate the West?

        I mean if I thought I could harass politicians and get away with it…

        • HandBreadedToolsEnglish
          00·
          11 months ago

          the US Department of Justice charged more than 30 Chinese officials earlier this year with running a sprawling disinformation operation that had targeted dissidents in the US

              • queermunist she/her
                02·
                11 months ago

                That doesn’t mean what you think it means.

                Occam’s razor, this is probably a coordinated troll group. Jumping from that to “and so this is an operation by the Chinese government” requires evidence, though, because Occam’s razor says this is a group of trolls who just do this for fun or as vigilantes.

                A coordinated trolling campaign from channers or goons would look basically the same, just with different targets.

                • rhizophonic
                  00·
                  11 months ago

                  Naw man, everyone who can exercise influence by the methods we are broadly referencing is already doing it.

                  It is harder to explain why the powerful Chineese wouldn’t be doing it when every other relevant group is.

                  • queermunist she/her
                    02·
                    11 months ago11 months ago

                    I don’t think there’s proof everyone is using paid agents to systematically troll and harass enemies of the state. This is a pretty specific thing.

                    Surveillance is one thing. This is different.

                    I’d believe it if I saw proof, but I don’t see proof. I see circumstantial evidence and speculation.