Social media giant Facebook, under its parent company Meta, has taken action against thousands of purportedly fraudulent accounts originating in China, aiming to influence U.S. politics and bilateral relations, as revealed in an investigative report. Meta disclosed the closure of one network, comprising 4,789 deceptive Facebook accounts focused on U.S. politics, and another network involving 13 accounts and seven groups targeting India, Tibet, and the United States. A third network featuring fake Russian Facebook accounts was also dismantled.
The report highlighted that numerous fraudulent activities extended to the social messaging app X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, with identical account information observed. The 4,789 suspect Facebook accounts, wherein Chinese individuals allegedly posed as Americans, were removed as part of an investigation into coordinated “inauthentic behavior.” Some of these covert Chinese accounts were found to share links to articles from prominent U.S. media outlets, including HuffPost, Breitbart, The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News.
While the report did not explicitly connect the activity to the Chinese government, it underscored the significance of treating such actions seriously, despite their current limited reach. The Meta report described the suspect Chinese Facebook pages as employing profile pictures and names sourced from the internet to connect with individuals globally, aiming to influence politics and perceptions of U.S.-China relations. These fake accounts exhibited a pattern of criticizing both sides of the U.S. political spectrum and copying content from X to Facebook without editing it.
The report also highlighted the imitation of posts from U.S. politicians, including figures like Nancy Pelosi, Gretchen Whitmer, Kristi Noem, and Ron DeSantis. Additionally, Chinese operations copied statements from Senators Mark Kelly and Marsha Blackburn, as well as Representatives Sylvia Garcia, Terri Sewell, Matt Gaetz, and Jim Jordan. The goal of these actions remained unclear, whether to amplify partisan tensions, build audiences, or make fake accounts sharing authentic content appear more genuine.
Furthermore, the report detailed links to news articles from U.S. media being posted and reshared on Facebook by real users to lend authenticity to bogus sites. The content ranged from political topics to gaming, history, fashion models, and pets.
In an intriguing development, a portion of the China-origin fake accounts shifted names and profile pictures to appear U.S.-based by mid-year, posing as individuals in India. Some accounts from this network began engaging with content from the China-origin network focused on India and Tibet.
