With the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November, reports have emerged that China is intervening in the election by mobilizing fake accounts to spread false information about President Joe Biden on the internet.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 1st (local time), citing U.S. political research institutions and government officials, that Chinese accounts posing as supporters of former President Donald Trump are spreading conspiracy theories on social networking services (SNS), thereby fostering division within the United States.
On X (formerly Twitter), a Chinese account impersonating a Trump supporter used the username "Always MAGA (Make America Great Again, the slogan of the Trump campaign)" and claimed that President Biden is a Satan-worshipping pedophile. The account also shared fake images of President Biden wearing a prison uniform. Another account impersonating a Trump supporter in his 40s spread conspiracy theories alleging that President Biden had some connection with Jeffrey Epstein, who was imprisoned on sexual offense charges.
Ellis Thomas, senior analyst at the non-profit research organization Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which identified the fake accounts, stated, "The network of these accounts is linked to the Chinese government," and explained, "In the past, they posted pro-China content, but in recent months, they have disguised themselves as Americans writing in English."
The Washington-based research organization Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) also uncovered 170 fake pages and accounts on Facebook that attacked President Biden and spread anti-American messages. Researchers assessed that China's tactics to influence public opinion within the U.S. have become more sophisticated and harder to detect than before.
The NYT diagnosed that while China previously focused on promoting its culture and economic superiority to the West, it has recently concentrated on disparaging democracy and fostering division among Americans. Avril Haines, Director of the U.S. National Intelligence, expressed concern, saying, "China is sowing doubt among Americans about U.S. leadership and attempting to undermine democracy," and "They are increasingly using sophisticated methods to influence the U.S. election." Earlier, U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant announced that China intervened in the 2022 midterm elections through a public opinion manipulation campaign called DRAGONBRIDGE, which incited heated debates on sensitive issues such as political polarization, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and crime.
Notably, many of the false information pieces reported by the NYT targeted President Biden. Researchers diagnosed that China might have calculated that the election of former President Trump would be preferable to Biden’s continued presidency.
Meanwhile, with the rematch between President Biden and former President Trump confirmed for the November U.S. election, analyses are emerging that fake news generated by generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as deepfakes, could negatively impact the election.
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