China-linked ‘Spamouflage’ network mimics Americans online to sway US political debate
China-linked ‘Spamouflage’ network mimics Americans online to sway US political debate
As voters prepare to cast their ballots in the November election, U.S. adversaries like China are making their own plans.
When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man.
A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida.
New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence.
The account was traced back to Spamouflage, a Chinese disinformation group, by analysts at Graphika, a New York-based firm that tracks online networks. Known to online researchers for several years, Spamouflage earned its moniker through its habit of spreading large amounts of seemingly unrelated content alongside disinformation.
Whenever I see any news that portrays China in a good light (e.g. Chinese chip industry, Chinese renewables, car manufacturing, etc) I always assume it is Chinese propaganda by a bot or a shill.
Whenever I see an influencer in China, I am almost certain they've been paid to promote and have strict guidelines on what to say and not to say.
It’s honestly catering to the lowest common denominator. Idiots who lack any critical thinking skills at all. Unfortunately my sister is one of them. She is constantly spamming misinformation on her Facebook wall. Whenever I let her know that what she posted is wrong/fake/made up she takes it down but like why were you so gullible to share it in the first place?
Have you noticed anything else strange about her lately? For example, does she claim your plate at dinner, or constantly fight with you about which part of the bathtub is her part?
That's not your sister, you might be living with Xi Jinping.
There was only one Chinese "influencer" I had any respect for, and then she stopped making videos after putting up a video explaining how she got grabbed by the police and warned to be more careful what she says. Absolutely nobody actually living in China can be trusted at all, they're basically all hostages.
That’s an astonishing way to consume news, but at least you acknowledge your bias.
Given the political climate of the past checks watch 9 years, I'd say it's better to be skeptical of any news whatsoever.
Pretty much the only thing I trust about China at face value is Wukong lol
Considering the lore, wukong doesn't sound like a very trustful monkey.
Gotta start regulating social media. "look how many users we have!" metrics are why bot nets are allowed to fester.
I still think the core problem lies with advertising on social media, especially contextual/targeted advertising. What if we prohibited for-profit social media companies?
I was thinking about this recently. Why do people still use social media that has ads or that allows self-promotion? It's social media, not corporate media. Post stuff because you want to, not because you want to generate a profit.
Or just tell investors to find other KPMs outside of something as easy to fake as active user count and the problem sorts itself out. But also, I agree.
These sites likely prefer fake active users for multiple reasons outside of investor manipulation, including that in normal operation, bot users not running via API will scroll past ads and get a bunch of fake ad viewership they can cash in on.
Let’s be real they’re not just doing it to the US.
The internet was a mistake