Meta Platforms said on Tuesday (Sept 27) it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in US with political content ahead of the midterm elections in November. The network maintained fake accounts across Meta's social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, as well as competitor service Twitter, but was small and did not attract much of a...
Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in US with political content ahead of the midterm elections in November.
"The Chinese operations we've taken down before talked primarily about America to the world, primarily in South Asia, not to Americans about themselves," Meta global threat intelligence lead Ben Nimmo told a press briefing. Asked about Meta's findings at a news conference, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said his office was "very concerned" about intelligence reports of election interference by foreign governments "starting back some time ago and continuing all the way into the present."
A sample screenshot showed one account commenting on a Facebook post by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, asking him to stop gun violence and using the hashtag #RubioChildrenKiller.The same network also set up fake accounts that posed as people in the Czech Republic criticising the Czech government over its approach to China, according to the report.