Twitter says it proactively suspended ~200K “spammy” accounts, before they became “substantially active”, alongside its initial ban of 936 China-linked accounts
We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong …
Related Coverage
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Discussion
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Vox
Emily Stewart
on x
How China used Facebook and Twitter to spread disinformation about the Hong Kong protests
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@donie
Donie O'Sullivan
on x
Not just Hong Kong accounts. Among the accounts Twitter says are linked to China is @LibertyLionNews. Its bio: “Conservative News from the USA and Abroad. #Catholic Defender of the Constitution of the United States. #Qanon #MAGA #BUILDTHEWALL #TRUMP #2A #1A” Profile pic: pic.twit…
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@chrchristensen
Christian Christensen
on x
Note language used by Twitter when addressing suspension of accounts used by Chinese govt re HK protests: “coordinated attempts to manipulate the public conversation.” Using that definition, tell me how Trump/WH tweets containing blatant lies don't fall into same category. pic.tw…
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@jc_mittelstadt
@jc_mittelstadt
on x
“China said on Tuesday it had a right to put out its own views after Twitter and Facebook said they had dismantled a state-backed social media campaign originating in mainland China that sought to undermine protests in Hong Kong” https://www.reuters.com/...
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@timothys
Tim Shorrock
on x
This “huge news” deserves a little more skepticism. Otherwise it's a nice plug for two American corporate giants. https://twitter.com/...
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@theintercept
@theintercept
on x
A review of Twitter advertisements from between June and August this year showed that the social media giant promoted more than 50 English-language tweets from the Global Times, a Chinese state media organization. https://theintercept.com/...
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@wongmjane
Jane Manchun Wong
on x
I guess China will tell their citizens to boycott Twitter and Facebook in response to the ban Very sad! 😭😭😭 https://twitter.com/...
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@sanasaeed
Sana Saeed
on x
You guys didn't seem to be so concerned with the clear Hindutva bots (more than likely state-backed) out in full force over the last two weeks in particular — especially the ones threatening genocide, spreading demonstrably false information. How come? How does this work? https:/…
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@annafifield
Anna Fifield
on x
Huge news: Twitter and Facebook have taken action against China for using hundreds of fake accounts to sow discord during the Hong Kong protests, the first time the social media giants had identified Beijing directly for spearheading such an operation. https://www.washingtonpost.…
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@donie
Donie O'Sullivan
on x
The account had more than 180,000 followers. Was set up more than 10 years ago. h/t @DarrenLinvill
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@oneunderscore__
Ben Collins
on x
A Chinese government-created Qanon account. Yeehaw! https://twitter.com/...
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@alexstamos
Alex Stamos
on x
Working on something longer with @noUpside on this, but I'll make a short-term meta-comment. Two of the three relevant companies have made public statements. Neither have realistic prospects in the PRC, the other does. From the US media reaction silence might be the best move. ht…
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@rosenbergerlm
Laura Rosenberger
on x
I told @mariecbaca that the use of English-language accounts is significant, showing that the state is increasingly seeking to control information flow outside China. The question now is, who was this targeting? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@alexstamos
Alex Stamos
on x
Lots of lessons from this episode, but one might be an reinforcement of how Russia represents “easy mode” for platforms doing state attribution. It's a lot harder when the actor is financially critical, like the PRC or India.
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@lhfang
Lee Fang
on x
Are you telling me all those Twitter accounts with 0 followers and ten random numbers in the handle, that responded “China #1” to every article about Hong Kong weren't authentic? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@repadamschiff
Adam Schiff
on x
Twitter and Facebook announced they found and removed a large network of Chinese government-backed accounts spreading disinformation about the protests in Hong Kong. This is just one example of how authoritarian regimes use social media to manipulate people, at home and abroad. h…
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@hawleymo
Josh Hawley
on x
This is a case study on what happens when Big Tech gets cozy with the Chinese government. China will abuse any technology at its disposal to advance its authoritarian goals https://twitter.com/...
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@mariecbaca
Marie C. Baca
on x
For the first time, Twitter and Facebook called out the Chinese government directly for “inauthentic behavior” on their platforms. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@sarahfrier
Sarah Frier
on x
Facebook found similar activity: “Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government.” https://newsroom.fb.com/...
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@caseynewton
Casey Newton
on x
Look on the bright side — Facebook finally got into China 😂 https://twitter.com/...
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@paulmozur
Paul Mozur
on x
Twitter to stop ads from state-controlled media. This is a big deal for China's international propaganda campaigns. No more promotions from Cctv et al. At least millions in revenue. Puts pressure on Facebook, which still trains China's govt and state media on using its platform. …
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@jamesrbuk
James Ball
on x
Some poor senior execs at the BBC and Channel 4 have possibly had to talk very quickly to explain to social networks that “publicly owned media” and “state controlled media” are not the same thing. https://twitter.com/...
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@mollymckew
Molly McKew
on x
Eagerly awaiting if this actually applied to RT and its many subsidiaries and proxies https://twitter.com/...
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@cnn
@cnn
on x
Twitter announced that it would no longer accept advertisements from “state-controlled news media entities,” though accounts affected by the new rule can still use Twitter as regular users https://www.cnn.com/...
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@lukolejnik
Lukasz Olejnik
on x
Twitter is updating advertisement policy. State media (of any country) will no longer be able to promote/advertise content. Response to broad abuses around the world. https://blog.twitter.com/... pic.twitter.com/yuNr6C7Kms
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@mcfaul
Michael McFaul
on x
Terrific decision by @Twitter ! Very significant change in policy: https://blog.twitter.com/... cc: @nickpickles @ColinCrowell @jack
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@mikeisaac
Rat King
on x
the scale of the campaign across twitter (200,000 accounts!) is interesting compared to those on Facebook (a dozen or so pages/accts/groups, affecting about 16k people) i guess there's a net benefit to the State in convincing westerners that HK protesters are violent
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@mikeisaac
Rat King
on x
FB says it's taking down a disinfo campaign orchestrated by China targeting Hong Kong, but twitter goes further, says it won't accept any more ad buys from state-backed media https://newsroom.fb.com/... https://blog.twitter.com/...
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@pinboard
@pinboard
on x
Am I reading this right? Twitter bans Xinhua (good) but they can advertise for 30 more days?! https://blog.twitter.com/...
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@twittersafety
@twittersafety
on x
We're disclosing coordinated account activity focused on the ongoing protest movement in Hong Kong. Our investigations have found that these accounts are linked to state-backed information operations from mainland China. https://blog.twitter.com/...
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@cnbcnow
@cnbcnow
on x
BREAKING: Twitter says it has uncovered a “significant state-backed information operation” originating from inside China aimed “deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
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@jkylebass
Kyle Bass
on x
Twitter and Facebook have determined that chinese state-run operations have been using their services to propagate lies to deliberately influence political discord against HK. Maybe Susan Thornton or Swaine should be hired as their lobbyists to write another pro-ccp letter #china…
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@rachel_cheung1
Rachel Cheung
on x
It took long enough, but they are now acting. Bots suspended. What about the promoted posts from state media, which also seem to violate some of the said fundamental principles Twitter is built on? https://twitter.com/...
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@caro_milanesi
Carolina Milanesi
on x
Great that Twitter speaks up, let's keep it up as we get close to election time #justsaying https://twitter.com/...
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@swodinsky
Shoshana Wodinsky
on x
though twitter's taken p quick action here, those state actors shouldn't have been able to buy that ad space to begin with, imo; at least not without SERIOUS review https://twitter.com/...