Facebook, Twitter say China running disinformation campaign against Hong Kong protesters
Facebook and Twitter are accusing China of running a disinformation campaign against the protesters in Hong Kong, according to their blog posts on Monday, and are no longer accepting advertising dollars from the state-controlled news media entities.
"We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change," Twitter wrote in its blog.
People use the lights on their smartphones as they stand under an umbrella during a demonstration at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The social media giant outlined 936 accounts which were from inside the People's Republic of China and disclosed "a larger, spammy network of approximately 200,000 accounts" were also suspended due to their connection to this possible disinformation campaign.
"Overall, these accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground," Twitter wrote.
These accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong
Facebook joined the fight on Monday as well, saying they "removed seven pages, three groups and five Facebook accounts involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior as part of a small network that originated in China and focused on Hong Kong."
Facebook claims the people behind the social media campaign used fake accounts to manage pages that appeared to be news organizations.
"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government," Facebook wrote in its blog.
Our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government
Twitter found similar evidence of a "state-backed operation."
"Specifically, we identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests," Twitter wrote.
Twitter and Facebook are blocked in China, but some people access their accounts by using a virtual private network (VPN).
"We will continue to be vigilant, learning from this network and proactively enforcing our policies to serve the public conversation," Twitter wrote.
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Both Twitter and Facebook say they are sharing the issue in an effort to be more transparent.