Meta Shuts Down Accounts Linked to Massive Chinese Disinformation Campaign

Meta removed 7,704 Facebook accounts, 945 pages, 15 groups, and 15 Instagram accounts that were proven to have "coordinated inauthentic behavior" from China.

Massive Disinformation Campaigns Detected

In Meta's recent report, the investigation discovered prolific influence operation. The company was able to detect an activity to over 50 platforms and forums which include widely used social media like Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube, and more.

The network was aiming for positive commentaries about China and its province Xinjiang. On the contrary, it has been openly criticizing the Western foreign policies and critics of the Chinese government. To further boost engagement, Meta found that at least $3,500 were paid to run ads related to the campaign on Facebook.

While the activity originated in China its main target is to create an influence on Chinese speakers outside China. Among the primary targets are Australia, United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Japan.

Meta's Investigation Against Spamouflage

In 2019, Meta along with Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi) coined the term Spamouflage. According to Meta, Spamouflage is "the largest known cross-platform covert influence operation to date."

During the investigation, Spamouflage network was seen active during lunch, supper, and in the evening in Beijing time. The network is also known for sharing identical content across various platforms and "personal" comments which bears similarity to one another.

The Spamouflage was able to run various disinformation campaign. However, the campaign was not as successful as it had imagined. According to Meta, Spamouflage struggled to create more buzz outside its fake echo chamber. Regardless, Meta reminded that it is important to keep reporting and taking actions against dubious activities on all platforms.