Carmichael, Flora. “How a Fake Network Pushes PRO-CHINA PROPAGANDA.” BBC News, BBC, 5 Aug. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58062630.
Social media companies have noticed suspicious activity lately. A network has created over 350 fake social media profiles. The attack patterns and hashtags used by the perpetrators are vastly similar to “Spamouflage Dragon,” a network that has caused trouble in the past. They attack other countries’ choices and governments while uplifting Chinese policies and politicians through propaganda. These posts can consist of political cartoons insulting controversial politicians, and also text posts attacking America. Most of the content targeted US human rights issues or hoped for defeat in Afghanistan. (This article was uploaded before the retreat.) These fake accounts used AI-generated profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The companies discovered the activity by monitoring newly created accounts, accounts with few followers, usernames that might seem randomly generated, and by mapping hashtags. The social networks have now taken down the accounts and their content.