Blitz Bureau
A Chinese social media influence operation is impersonating U.S. voters, denigrating U.S. politicians and pushing divisive messages ahead of the November 5 presidential election in the United States, new research by intelligence company Graphika showed.
The campaign is part of a known Chinese state-linked effort analysts have dubbed “Spamouflage” or “Dragonbridge,” which pushes a mixture of spam and targeted propaganda onto the internet.
Active since 2017
Spamouflage has been active since at least 2017 but has stepped up its activities as the election approaches, according to experts. It has leveraged thousands of accounts across more than 50 websites, forums and social media platforms, according to Reuters. “The key takeaway from this report,” said Jack Stubbs, who manages Graphika’s research team, is that Spamouflage has “become more aggressive in its efforts to infiltrate and sway U.S. political conversations.”
“This matters because it shows Chinese influence operations targeting the U.S. are evolving, engaging in more advanced deceptive behaviours, and directly targeting these organic but hyper-sensitive rifts in society,” Stubbs added.
In one example highlighted by Graphika, the Chinese operation impersonated American anti-war activists. Using multiple accounts on X, the operatives created memes that labelled Trump a “fraud,” showing him in an orange prison uniform, and called Biden a “coward.”
In halting English, a different account asked: “the present American still our America?” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said, “China has no intention and will not interfere in the U.S. election, and we hope that the U.S. side will not make an issue of China in the election.”
Facebook previously attributed the campaign to Chinese law enforcement, calling it “the largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world.” Spamouflage’s messaging does not appear to favour Democrats or Republicans, but rather aims to amplify existing criticisms toward American society and Government.
The group in mid-2023 increasingly targeted genuine supporters of former President Donald Trump, says the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which has done its own research into Spamouflage.
