A massive pro-China “spamouflage” network on social media is being used to distort international perceptions on important issues, such as U.S. gun laws, COVID-19, and racial discrimination, according to a recent report.
The tactic is using a sprawling network of computer-generated “people” to promote the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) narratives and discredit the West, especially the United States. Fake users, or bots, are used on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, according to a report (pdf) by the non-profit Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), published on Aug. 5. CIR is an independent and non-profit organization which aims at countering disinformation.
