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 Experts at security company FireEye and Alphabet’s Google said the
operation was identified in 2019 as running hundreds of accounts in
English and Chinese aimed at discrediting the Hong Kong democracy
movement. The effort has broadened its mission and spread from
Twitter, Facebook and Google to thousands of handles on dozens of
sites around the world.
This expansion suggests Chinese interests have made a deeper
commitment to the sort of international propaganda techniques Russia
has used for several years, experts said.
Some of the new accounts are on networks used predominantly in
countries that have not previously been significant Chinese
propaganda targets, such as Argentina. Other networks have users
around the world but with a large proportion in Russia or Germany.
False information about COVID-19 has been a major focus. For
example, accounts on social networking sites vKontakte, LiveJournal
and elsewhere in Russian, German, Spanish and other languages have
asserted that the novel coronavirus emerged in the United States
before China and that it was developed by the U.S. military.
Multiple Russian-language LiveJournal accounts used identical
wording: "U.S. Ft. Detrick was the source of COVID-19," referring to
the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick installation in Maryland.
In addition to promoting false information on the virus, researchers
said priorities for the group include criticizing fugitive Chinese
propagandist Guo Wengui and his ally, former Donald Trump strategist
Steve Bannon, and exploiting concerns about anti-Asian racism.
“We have observed extensive promotion of Russian, German, Spanish,
Korean, and Japanese-language content on U.S. and non-U.S.-based
platforms, in addition to the typical English and Chinese-language
activity that has been widely reported on,” FireEye said in a report
published Wednesday. Many of the accounts link to each other or use
the same photos, helping the researchers see connections among them.
Many of the posts echo claims in state-controlled Chinese media, and
they are consistent with other government propaganda efforts. The
researchers do not have proof of involvement by a specific arm or
ally of Beijing. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond
to a request for comment.
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 So far, the accounts on the
main U.S. platforms and major networks elsewhere
such as Russia-based vKontakte have gained
little interaction with authentic users, the
researchers said.
"A lot of it is tweeting into the void," said
John Hultquist, vice president of intelligence
analysis at FireEye.
Some of the posts urged protesters to
demonstrate against racism in the United States.
In addition, they called on protesters to rally
in April outside what the accounts said was the
New York home of wealthy expatriate Guo, but
there was little evidence that people showed up.
The coordinated fake accounts took that in
stride, instead distributing doctored photos of
a different protest in a different place.
"It's almost like they are being paid by
volume," instead of engagement, said Shane
Huntley, director of the threat analysis group
at Google.
Alphabet's YouTube has been removing about a
thousand channels a month tied to the campaign,
though most promote Chinese entertainment more
than political views or misinformation.
The production quality is improving, with
higher-resolution video and better subtitles,
suggesting an investment for the long haul.
Though the accounts have not been successful at
blending in and attracting native followers,
Hultquist said he was concerned that the
dedication of resources would lead to improved
technique and more convincing misinformation
spreading.
“They've clearly got a wide mandate that's
global. Someone is giving them pretty broad
orders,” Hultquist said.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
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