Facebook removes accounts, groups, and Pages tied to China that posted about US politics; the network was followed by fewer than 3,000 US accounts

The social media campaign was small but targeted all sides of the debate. Officials said Beijing had not decided whether to wade more directly in the American presidential race.

New York Times 2020-09-23

Context & Ripple Effects

This takedown extends a line that began with Facebook's removal of 800+ US-based accounts spamming political messages for profit in 2018, moved to foreign state-linked activity when a Twitter tip led Facebook to pull a small Chinese network over Hong Kong content in 2019, and now lands on China-linked activity aimed at the American electorate itself. What distinguishes this network is its scale — fewer than 3,000 US accounts followed it — and its posture of targeting all sides of the political debate rather than amplifying one.

The timing matters: it lands days before Facebook's broader sweep of 200+ accounts tied to past US election interference, suggesting the platform is running continuous pre-election purges rather than one-off cleanups. Officials' note that Beijing had not decided whether to wade more directly into the presidential race frames this as reconnaissance-scale activity, not yet a committed campaign.

First-order effects

The China-linked network loses its Facebook reach immediately, and the small follower count means the operational damage is contained — the real effect is evidentiary, putting Beijing's pre-decision probing on the public record weeks before the election.

Second-order effects

The 2019 Hong Kong takedown showed cross-platform tips (Twitter to Facebook) are now a working enforcement channel; expect that referral loop to harden into standard practice as each platform's takedowns feed the others' investigations.
Facebook's willingness to remove content touching all sides of the US debate — after its earlier reversal on deceptive Trump campaign census ads — narrows the space for any political actor, domestic or foreign, to claim the enforcement is one-sided.

Third-order effects

If Beijing does decide to engage more directly in the US race, platforms will be enforcing against a state actor that has already been caught probing — pushing takedowns from episodic cleanups toward standing election-cycle infrastructure, with the follower-count threshold for action trending down.

The trend: Platform takedowns are shifting from domestic spam purges to routine removal of small foreign state-linked networks, with cross-platform tips and pre-election sweeps making influence-op policing a permanent layer of social media operations.

Discussion

@cnnphilippines @cnnphilippines on x
Facebook removes China-based accounts for ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’ which targets the Philippines, Southeast Asia. It also removes accounts of a PH-based network that relies on fake accounts to post about local news, events. Read here: https://about.fb.com/... https://tw…
@grahambrookie Graham Brookie on x
It matters because this: “American intel agencies stand by their assessment that China, finding Mr. Trump mercurial & unpredictable, favors his defeat.” There isn't conclusive (or any) evidence in open sources to back it up. Reports like today's FB disclosure refute it. 2/
@reginecabato Regine Cabato on x
More from @Graphika_NYC: The content “argued in favor of Chinese regional influence” + supported Duterte, who previously refused to assert PH territorial rights in South China Sea. Other content were against Hong Kong protests and Taiwan independence. https://graphika.com/... htt…
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
It's been a week since Charlie Kirk was busted for overseeing a troll farm that Facebook and Twitter said violated their policies. No actions against him yet from either platform. https://twitter.com/...
@sarahelago Sarah Elago on x
“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to Philippine military and Philippine police...Advertising: Around $1,100 in spending for ads on Facebook paid for in Philippine peso.” Read: https://about.fb.com/...
@olivia_gazis Olivia Gazis on x
“Current and former officials have said that to an extent, China is copying the Russian interference playbook from 2016. And like Russia in the last election...it is trying to obscure its efforts by conducting operations to sow division and chaos by playing all sides of an issue”…
@tonyocruz Tonyo Cruz on x
Its official: Facebook removes AFP, PNP and China accounts, pages spreading fake news vs. activists, oppositionists, communists Investigation “found links to PH military and PH police.” and to “Fujian, China” https://about.fb.com/...
@reginecabato Regine Cabato on x
Also among the content it found: posts supportive of both Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, in a potential 2022 presidential run. Facebook said the network “violated its policy against foreign or government interference.” https://about.fb.com/... https://tw…
@grahambrookie Graham Brookie on x
Two things that stick out. First, the Chinese influence operation was almost entirely focused on Southeast Asia. Second, the small portion that was focused on the US was somewhat equal opportunity partisan. It had material attacking Joe Biden. Why does this matter? 1/2 https://tw…
@mlq3 Manuel L. Quezon III on x
“..they posted in Chinese, Filipino and English about global news and current events including Beijing's interests in the South China Sea...content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sarah Duterte's potential run in the 2022 Presidential election” https://about.fb.com/..…
@nytimes @nytimes on x
Facebook has detected limited Chinese operations intended to both help and hurt President Trump's re-election chances, the company announced on Tuesday. It's the first public disclosure of China's efforts to influence the presidential election in November. https://www.nytimes.com…
@ridt Thomas Rid on x
CAUTION: today's Facebook takedown does not mean China-interferes-in-the-2020- election. It means that “individuals in Fujian Province” spectacularly failed to interfere in the 2020 election. Remember: some active measures are only really activated by their post-takedown coverage…
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
Both Facebook and Twitter have teams of very smart people whose job is stopping foreign trolls from manipulating their platforms. They do it a lot! (See today's China takedown: https://t.co/...) But what's the point if Americans can do the same thing with no consequences?
@golovchenko_yev Yevgeniy Golovchenko on x
One way of identifying fake accounts is to reverse search their profile image to see if it was stolen from someone else. I guess it was a matter of time before fake accounts started using AI-generated/altered faces to avoid detection. The future is here. https://techcrunch.com/..…
@ngleicher Nathaniel Gleicher on x
We found the Chinese operation based on our own internal investigations. It primarily targeted the Philippines and Southeast Asia, but had a very limited amount of US-focused content. @Graphika_NYC's report: https://graphika.com/...
@chinfo @chinfo on x
Social media literacy — and maritime security literacy — is national security, too. The @USNavy @USPacificFleet and @US7thFleet will continue to sail wherever international law allows... and continue to communicate timely and accurate info about it. https://twitter.com/...
@blackamazon @blackamazon on x
Because nobody learns anything , Facebook is still leaning heavily on the sinophobia to avoid dealing with the fact it hasn't done its job on any th ing else https://twitter.com/...
@daveyalba Davey Alba on x
More disinformation in the Philippines. 155 accounts, 11 pages, 9 groups and 6 Instagram accounts pushed stories of interest to OFWs, as well as content that was supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign for re-election in the Philippines. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
Nick Clegg acknowledged today that the domestic disinfo threat in 2020 is worse than the 2016 Russian ops: https://www.usatoday.com/... especially tough to deter if you lack the political will to try... https://twitter.com/...
@sashaingber Sasha Ingber on x
First major spotlight on China's election-time disinformation: Today Facebook says it removed 155 accounts, 11 Pages, 9 Groups, 6 Insta accounts from China — supportive and critical posts on Pete Buttigieg, Vice President Biden and President Trump. https://about.fb.com/...
@ap_politics @ap_politics on x
Lawmakers are increasingly turning to a new ally in their efforts to track foreign election interference: tech companies. Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others are frequently in touch with lawmakers about threats from countries such as Russia and China. https://apne.ws/rl7G14o
@shannonpareil Shannon Bond on x
Facebook's China takedown shows where Beijing's priorities lie: on foreign policy and defense, not election interference, ⁦@selectedwisdom⁩ tells me. https://www.npr.org/...
@ngleicher Nathaniel Gleicher on x
Today we announced two CIB takedowns: a Chinese network targeting Southeast Asia, with very limited US-focused activity, and a domestic Philippine network that is linked to the Philippine military and police. https://about.fb.com/...
@benimmo Ben Nimmo on x
Here's the @Graphika_NYC report. Overall, 155 accounts on FB, 11 pages, 9 groups, 6 Instagram accounts. 2017: mostly Taiwan 2018-19: + Philippines and South China Sea 2020: + US-centric content. The biggest audience was in the Philippines. https://graphika.com/...

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