Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has disclosed that it removed five networks of fake accounts from China this year in an attempt to influence global politics.
According to Meta, China has now become the third most common source of foreign influence operations, behind Russia and Iran, targeting people in sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Europe, and the United States. Various strategies were employed for these campaigns in order to promote Chinese interests around the world, from defending Beijing’s human rights record to undermining government critics.
The company detailed two recent operations it disrupted linked to China. The first operation involved 4,800 fake Facebook accounts that copied and pasted posts from politicians in the United States. The second, smaller but more sophisticated, operation consisted of 13 Facebook accounts and seven groups targeting Tibet and India.
The report also mentioned that with several elections set to take place in 2024, including in the U.S., Taiwan, India, and the European Union, Chinese operations are expected to pivot to target discussions of relations with China in those places.
Furthermore, Meta stated that Russian influence operations have mainly been focused on undermining international support for Ukraine since its February 2022 invasion of that country. It has also blocked website domains linked to a Russian operation known as Doppelganger and continues to share information about threats with the government and other partners.
The company also highlighted that legal and political pressure has compelled the U.S. government to pause sharing information about foreign election interference since July when a federal judge issued an injunction barring federal agencies from communicating with social media platforms about most content. This decision has led to a widespread chilling effect and has caused a breakdown in efforts to combat foreign interference online.