Meta said it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in the United States 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 following, Meta said in a report summarizing its findings.
Still, the report noted, the discovery was significant because it suggested a shift toward more direct interference in U.S. domestic politics compared with previous known Chinese propaganda efforts.
“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.
