Meta Exposes, Eradicates Vast Chinese Political Spam Network
TECH DIGEST- In a sweeping action, Meta has recently disclosed its termination of nearly 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, groups, and pages associated with a sophisticated Chinese political spam network.
This network had meticulously targeted users in Australia and various corners of the globe. The revelation comes after years of investigation initiated in 2019, during which Meta collaborated closely with research bodies like the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which aptly coined the term “Spamouflage.”
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According to an official report released by the social media giant on Tuesday, the purged content encompasses 7,704 Facebook accounts, 954 pages, 15 groups, and 15 Instagram accounts, all violating Meta’s guidelines against inauthentic behavior. Remarkably, this operation garnered the attention of around 560,000 accounts, with users subscribing to one or more of the now-removed pages. Meta postulates that these pages were likely procured from notorious spam operators. Financially, the campaign splurged approximately US$3,500 (equivalent to A$5,430) on Facebook advertisements.
Attributed to Chinese origin, this extensive network set its sights on multiple global regions, including but not limited to Taiwan, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Furthermore, it established a significant presence within global Chinese-speaking audiences. Evidently, this influence campaign was an intricate web spanning over 50 online platforms and forums, not restricted to Instagram and Facebook. Among the platforms were recognizable names like YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and even X, the platform formerly identified as Twitter.
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What sets this operation apart is its meticulously calculated modus operandi. Meta discerned that many accounts operated from a shared physical location, akin to an office space. Their activities adhered to discernible patterns, marked by bursts of activity during morning and afternoon hours according to Beijing time, with breaks aligned to lunch and supper periods. The network’s content primarily revolved around commendatory narratives about China and Xinjiang province, while simultaneously offering critiques of the United States, Western foreign policies, and critics of the Chinese government, which included journalists and researchers.
Interestingly, as the Spamouflage network garnered attention and was subsequently blocked by major platforms like Facebook and Twitter in 2019, it made a strategic shift towards less prominent sites. The likes of Medium, X (previously Twitter), Reddit, YouTube, Vimeo, and Soundcloud became the new stomping grounds for this operation. Astonishingly, some of the posts were entirely unrelated to the platform’s overarching content. For instance, a response on Quora, aimed at weight loss through weight lifting, seamlessly segued into an article concerning international law enforcement cooperation against telecom and online fraud.
The operation further extended its reach to platforms relevant to specific communities. For instance, a presence on a Chinese diaspora forum focusing on Melbourne was discovered. One of the operation’s notable campaigns centered around sowing doubts about the origin of Covid-19. This was notably pursued through a fabricated 66-page “research paper,” fraught with consistent misspellings of key figures’ names. Supporting videos were propagated on YouTube and Vimeo, while an article was penned, citing the spurious research and embedding the videos, all to propagate the notion that the United States had concealed truths about the virus’s origins. The dissemination of this narrative spanned platforms like LiveJournal, Tumblr, and Medium, with corresponding links making rounds on social media.
In an Australian-specific context, Meta unearthed an article lambasting SBS’s decision to halt broadcasts from Chinese state-run channels in 2021. This decision elicited criticism from human rights advocates. Despite its sprawling presence across myriad accounts and platforms, the Spamouflage operation struggled to transcend its carefully constructed facade. Many of the comments it attracted were traced back to other Spamouflage accounts, an attempt to artificially amplify its influence beyond its inherent confines.
In the grand scheme of things, Meta’s commendable efforts to dismantle this complex network speak to the ongoing battle against misinformation and covert influence campaigns in the digital age. This revelation underscores the constant vigilance required to maintain the integrity of online platforms and to safeguard users against orchestrated disinformation efforts.
