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☆ Meta thwarts Chinese propaganda threat to US democracy before 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Meta did not attribute the network of fake Facebook accounts to a particular entity in China. It’s the latest in a series of warnings from tech firms documenting how Chinese propaganda and influence operations have more aggressively targeted American audiences in the last year. It wasn’t clear, Meta said in a report on foreign online threats published Thursday, what the Chinese network of fake accounts was trying to accomplish. While Meta and other tech firms tout their work to protect elections, recent moves by the company also show trends in the other direction. And Meta this month said it would allow political ads on its platforms to question the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.

Persons: Meta, Ron DeSantis, Nancy Pelosi, Iran —, haven’t, Nathaniel Gleicher, ” Ben Nimmo, ”, Liu Pengyu Organizations: CNN, Florida Gov, Meta, Republicans, US, of Liberty, Microsoft, Embassy Locations: China, Russia, Iran, Washington

The network of nearly 4,800 fake accounts was attempting to build an audience when it was identified and eliminated by the tech company, which owns Facebook and Instagram. The accounts sported fake photos, names and locations as a way to appear like everyday American Facebook users weighing in on political issues. Meta often points to its efforts to shut down fake social media networks as evidence of its commitment to protecting election integrity and democracy. But critics say the platform's focus on fake accounts distracts from its failure to address its responsibility for the misinformation already on its site that has contributed to polarization and distrust. But 2024 poses new challenges, according to experts who study the link between social media and disinformation.

Persons: Meta, Ben Nimmo, Donald Trump, Trump, Democrat Joe Biden, Biden, Zamaan Qureshi, ”, Jennifer Stromer, Elon Musk, Kyle Morse, Nimmo, Meta's Organizations: WASHINGTON, Inc, Meta, Democrat, Real Facebook, Syracuse University, Twitter, Republicans, Tech, Ukraine Locations: China, U.S, India, Mexico, Ukraine, Pakistan, Taiwan, Menlo Park , California, Tibet, Iran, Russia

CNN —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. Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. While tech and social media companies have shut down thousands of accounts targeting these victims, they’re outpaced by a slew of new accounts emerging virtually every day. As part of a mission “to manipulate public perceptions of [China], the Group uses its misattributed social media accounts to threaten, harass and intimidate specific victims,” the complaint states. In the past, the Spamouflage network mostly focused on issues domestically relevant to China.

Persons: –, Xi Jinping, Biden, Mike Gallagher, Chen Pokong, ”, Chen, “, Spamouflage’s, Liu Pengyu, ” Liu, Jiayang, Darren Linvill, hasn’t, Fan, Communist Party playbook, Mandiant, Nancy Pelosi, ” Ben Nimmo, George Floyd’s, Ben Nimmo, Lindsay Gorman, Gorman, ” Linvill, Linvill, Spamouflage, Jiajun Qiu, Qiu, ” Qiu Organizations: CNN, US State Department, FBI, Communist Party, Meta, Google, ”, CCP, US Department of Justice, Department, DOJ, China’s Ministry of Public Security, Group, New Yorker, telltale, Media, Clemson University, Capitol, Department of Homeland Security, Marshall Fund’s Alliance, Securing Democracy, YouTube Locations: United States, Beijing, San Francisco, China “, New York, China, New York City, America, Washington, Hong Kong, US, Texas, Virginia, Manassas , Virginia

☆ Meta pins pro-China influence campaign on Chinese law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Facebook parent company Meta said on Tuesday it had uncovered links between people associated with Chinese law enforcement and a long-running but largely ineffectual operation to positively influence people on social media about China. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. China’s foreign ministry said it was not aware of the findings, but added that individuals and institutions have often launched campaigns against China on social media platforms. Truly identify what lies and rumours are, what is the truth, and effectively eliminate false information related to China,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said when asked about the matter at a news briefing on Wednesday. The “Spamouflage” network first started out posting on large platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, now called X.

Persons: Meta, Yves Herman, ”, Wang Wenbin, Ben Nimmo, Nimmo Organizations: YORK, Facebook, REUTERS, Meta, YouTube, Twitter, Global, Intelligence Locations: China, Brussels, Belgium, United States, Beijing, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan

☆ Meta pins 'Spamouflage' influence campaign on Chinese law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Facebook parent company Meta (META.O) said on Tuesday it had uncovered links between people associated with Chinese law enforcement and the long-running but largely ineffectual pro-China "Spamouflage" influence operation. The "Spamouflage" network has engaged in spurts of activity over the last several years pushing positive narratives about China and negative commentary about the United States, Western foreign policies and critics of the Chinese government. With the latest activity detected, Meta executives said they believed that "Spamouflage" had become the largest known cross-platform influence operation to date, with a presence on at least 50 services. The "Spamouflage" network first started out posting on large platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, now called X.

Persons: Yves Herman, Meta, Ben Nimmo, Nimmo, Katie Paul, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Facebook, Meta, YouTube, Twitter, Global, Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, China, United States, Beijing, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan

☆ Meta says it has disrupted a massive disinformation campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta on Tuesday said it had disrupted a disinformation campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement that the social media company described as the "largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world." Meta began looking for signs of a Chinese influence operation on its own platforms after reports in 2022 highlighted how a disinformation campaign linked to the Chinese government targeted a human rights nongovernmental organization. Meta researchers were able to link this latest disinformation network to a prior influence campaign in 2019, code named Spamouflage. Meta also identified and disrupted other operations and published a more detailed analysis of a Russian disinformation campaign it identified shortly after the beginning of the 2022 war in Ukraine. But this disinformation network, while prolific, was not effective, Meta cybersecurity executives said on a briefing call.

Persons: Meta, Ben Nimmo, CNBC's Eamon Javers Organizations: Meta, Facebook Locations: China, Xinjiang, Ukraine, Cambridge, Bangladesh, Brazil, Vietnam

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - A Miami-based digital marketing firm was behind a series of covert political influence operations in Latin America over the last year, Facebook-owner Meta (META.O) said this week, a rare exposé of an apparent U.S.-based misinformation-for-hire outfit. "It's a classic pattern that you tend to see with for-hire influence operations," said Ben Nimmo, Meta's Global Threat Intelligence Lead. Meta says it regularly takes down disinformation and misinformation operations in order to maintain the integrity of its platform. Twitter said in a September 2022 blog that it had shared datasets about influence operations with Cazadores. Former Twitter employees told Reuters in January that most of the staff involved in the TMRC had since left and Reuters could not determine if it was still operational.

New York CNN —Facebook’s parent company Meta announced Wednesday that it has taken down a network of more than 100 China-based accounts that posed as organizations in the US and Europe and pushed pro-Beijing talking points. The network, which had more than 15,000 followers on Meta’s platforms, appears to have had some financial resources behind it. The fake accounts also posted “negative commentary about Uyghur activists and critics of the Chinese state,” it said. “We’re keeping a close eye” on the Chinese influence operations heading into the 2024 election, the official said. Ahead of the 2022 US midterm election, FBI officials expressed concern that Chinese operatives appeared to be engaging in “Russian-style influence activities” that stoke American divisions.

☆ A China-based operation sought to sway the US midterms — but failed because the propaganda workers took long lunches and worked 9 to 5. Meta shut it down anyway.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta took down a China-based network which sought to influence the US midterms. It was the first Chinese network Meta shut, which targeted US domestic politics before the midterms. The propaganda operation was largely ineffective, as it mostly posted when Americans were sleeping. Specifically, two clusters under the network "targeted both sides of the political spectrum in the US" in the English language. However, the influence operation was a failure, as the US-focused clusters attracted only "minimal reactions" to their posts.

☆ Meta says it removes China-based propaganda operation targeting U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Tuesday it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in the United States with political content ahead of the midterm elections in November. Another Meta executive at the briefing said the company did not have enough evidence to say who in China was behind the activity. A Twitter spokesperson said the company was aware of the information in Meta's report and also took down the accounts. According to Meta's report, the Chinese fake accounts posed as liberal and conservative Americans in different states. That operation primarily targeted users in Germany, as well as France, Italy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, and spent more than $100,000 on ads promoting pro-Russian messages.

☆ Facebook says it took down Chinese network using fake social media accounts to interfere in U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Facebook parent company Meta said Tuesday it took down a network of fake accounts from China that attempted to interfere in American politics ahead of this November’s midterm elections. Meta said the Chinese operation set up fake accounts posing as Americans, attacking politicians from both parties and posting inflammatory material about divisive issues such as abortion and gun rights. The network was small — just 84 Facebook accounts — and did not have a chance to develop much of an audience, Meta said in a report released Tuesday. “And it’s the first time we’ve seen that from a Chinese operation in this way. The New York Times reported in June that the company's core election team was disbanded, and the company has remained relatively quiet about its election efforts.

☆ Meta shuts down covert influence campaigns it says were run from China and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —Facebook parent company Meta announced Tuesday it had detected and shut down two separate networks of fake accounts engaged in covert influence operations run from China and Russia. Meta publicly detailed the takedown as it remains on high alert for foreign interference in the US midterm elections, a Meta spokesperson told CNN. The company has shared details of the Chinese accounts with the FBI, a Meta spokesperson said. More than 2,000 Facebook accounts and pages were part of the effort to push pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine, Meta said. “This was the first Chinese network we disrupted that focused on US domestic politics ahead of the midterm elections,” Meta said.

☆ Meta says removes China-based propaganda operation targeting U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Woman holds smartphone with Meta logo in front of a displayed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSept 27 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Tuesday it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in the United States with political content ahead of the midterm elections in November. Another Meta executive at the briefing said the company did not have enough evidence to say who in China was behind the activity. The fake accounts posed as liberal and conservative Americans in different states, posting memes and lurking in the comments of public figures' posts since November 2021, according to the report. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Katie Paul; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Truss tax plan cushions the wealthy while pushing borrowers toward a financial cliff
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s because the Bank of England is now widely expected to hike interest rates even further to tackle inflation that will be exacerbated by the government’s sweeping tax cuts. That means many as 1.8 million borrowers are now hurtling toward a financial cliff as they prepare to refinance next year, when the mortgage rate may well have doubled. The vast majority (nearly two-thirds) of the tax gains go to the wealthiest one-fifth of households, according to one think tank estimate. According to the US Treasury, tax cuts reduced federal revenues by about 9% in the first couple of years. However, Congress eventually decided the sweeping tax cuts were unsustainable and, with Reagan’s approval, raised taxes by a lot in 1982.

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian Oligarch Indicted by U.S., Is Known as ‘Putin’s Cook’
▼ + stars: | 2018-02-16 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

They’re the work of bots and trolls, and one of the most skilled countries at deploying them is Russia. During the 2016 presidential election, suspected Russian operators created bots on Twitter to promote hashtags like #WarAgainstDemocrats. Facebook is one common platform for Russian trolls and bots, which, in 2016, used fake accounts to influence U.S. elections. Facebook believes that ads on divisive issues created by Russian trolls were shown to Americans over four million times before the elections. Federal investigators and experts believed Russian trolls created Facebook groups like Blacktivist, which reposted videos of police beatings, or another, Secured Borders, which organized anti-immigrant rallies in real life.

Persons: Ludmila Savchuk, Ben Nimmo, Savchuk, Hillary Clinton, Melvin Redick, ”, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Twitter, Internet Research Agency, Facebook, Federal, Borders Locations: Russia, St, Petersburg, London, Russian, “, St . Petersburg

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