Increasingly Heated, Fake Pro China Accounts Attack US-Made Social Media
response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as deadly riots in Washington that killed five people.
The messages posted by the network, which also praises China , reached the social media feeds of government officials, including some in China and Venezuela who retweeted posts from the fake accounts to their millions of followers.
Head of Investigation for Graphika, Social Media Analytics Firm, Ben Nimmo said the international reach marked new territory for the pro- China social media network that has been operating for years, said, which monitors the activity.
"For the first time, it's starting to get a little bit of audience interaction," said Ben Nimmo.
The network's messages are in line with posts and comments made by Chinese state officials .
However, it remains unclear who is behind the fake account, which posts more than 1,400 videos in English, Mandarin or Cantonese.
One Twitter account, which has about 2,000 users, mostly from Latin America, also tweeted the message in Spanish, as quoted
The post appeared to target social media users outside the United States , gaining traction in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Venezuela, which are places where Chinese and US diplomatic or financial interests are increasingly in conflict.
“The whole message is America is doing very badly. China is doing very well, "said Nimmo.
According to the Graphika report, the network used photos of Chinese celebrities on the account.
In fact, in one case hijacked a verified Twitter account of a Latin American soap opera to post messages.
The fake accounts were seized during a January 6 uprising in Washington as Congress ratified the US election results in the Capitol.
One video describes the US as a "failed state", and another says that America "ran naked in front of the world" after the Capitol siege.
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The three videos that Graphika identified described the rioting as "a pretty sight to see," mimicking the language used in Chinese state media reports surrounding the news.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated under former President Donald Trump, who launched an aggressive diplomatic and economic offensive against China .
One video describes the US as a "failed state", and another says that America "ran naked in front of the world" after the Capitol siege.
The three videos that Graphika identified described the rioting as "a pretty sight to see," mimicking the language used in Chinese state media reports surrounding the news.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated under former President Donald Trump, who launched an aggressive diplomatic and economic offensive against China .
Some accounts are now turning to attack the Democrats by accusing the leaders of having a "one-party mentality" in videos posted to YouTube.
Other bogus accounts question the safety of the US-approved vaccine for Covid-19, although studies of tens of thousands of people have found no serious side effects.
"The safety ... of the vaccine is doubtful, but approved immediately," one pro- China video caption was posted on January 21.
Another post praised China's response to the pandemic, while criticizing America's ability to contain the deadly virus.
"There are interesting narratives and events that make the US look very bad," said Ben Nimmo.
Last month, YouTube announced that it had removed more than 3,000 YouTube channels in December that were identified as part of Graphika's investigation into an influence campaign linked to China .
In addition, other Facebook and Twitter accounts that were identified in Graphika's report were also deleted.