KATHMANDU: Popular social media Twitter and Facebook have removed thousands of accounts connected to Chinese information campaigns mobilized to shape the global narrative around the country.
In a notice issued Thursday, Twitter said that it took action against two networks comprising more than 2,000 accounts that worked to undermine accusations of human rights abuses in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where Chinese officials have subjected Muslim minorities to training camps and harsh surveillance.
Both networks promoted videos shot within Xinjiang that sought to portray the region as one of prosperity and freedom.
One of the networks, which Twitter attributed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), also coordinated verbal attacks against activists and articles critical of China, while bolstering Chinese state media with positive comments and likes, according to a report on the takedown released by the Stanford Internet Observatory, a research group focused on the misuse of technology and social media, reports the New York Times.
Two credible news outlets, New York Times (NYT) and ProPublica, identified a large number of accounts in the network for the first time in June regarding the campaign projecting normalcy in Xinjiang.
Although many of the more than 30,000 tweets attributed to the network received little engagement, the use of harassment and hashtags indicated “an effort to reframe global debate or to crowd out critical/adversarial narratives,” NYT reported, quoting the Stanford report.
In a separate statement released Wednesday, Facebook said it had taken down more than 500 accounts after they had helped to amplify posts from a fake Swiss biologist named “Wilson Edwards” who alleged the United States was interfering in World Health Organization efforts to track the origins of Covid-19. The fake scientist’s accusations were quoted by Chinese state media.
Facebook found that the scientist’s account on the platform was created less than 12 hours after the Swiss embassy in Beijing said “Wilson Edwards” did not exist.
The takedowns are the latest in a series of efforts by American social media companies to push back against Chinese information campaigns. Although blocked within China, Twitter and Facebook have become important avenues for shaping global opinions about China. In recent years, Chinese diplomats and state media have focused new efforts on building followings on the platforms.
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