Social media: Meta has taken down a major disinformation network based in China

DAY

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced Wednesday that it has taken down a major China-based disinformation network that was spreading content about sensitive political issues in Europe and the United States.

Meta said it has removed more than 100 Facebook pages, profiles and Instagram accounts linked to this disinformation network, which is also present on other platforms such as YouTube, Telegram and Twitter, accusing them of violating its policies.

Fifty other accounts linked to another network based in China were also deleted, the American company said in its quarterly report on adverse threats.

“These latest networks have experimented with a series of tactics that we had never seen before in China-based operations,” the report noted.

“Recent behaviors include creating a front media company in the West, hiring freelance writers around the world, offering to recruit protesters and co-opting an NGO in Africa,” he added. company.

Although Meta has deleted some accounts, much of the content still remains online, including on the social network Twitter, owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

Messages broadcast range from content focused on Europe, issues that divide the United States, including police brutality, crime and LGBT+ rights, to posts that defend Beijing's position on its politics in the western region of Xinjiang, where activists accuse authorities of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims in forced re-education camps.

Twitter and Facebook are officially blocked in China mainland, users must resort to banned VPNs to use their websites and apps.

Russia has long been accused of operating “troll farms” in an attempt to sway public opinion by West, as China is not considered very advanced in this area.

But Meta said the latest networks discovered on its platforms indicated that China-based operations were becoming increasingly sophisticated.< /p>

Last month, US authorities also said they had indicted a group of Chinese Ministry of Public Security agents, alleging they operated a network of social media accounts spreading pro-Beijing messages. .