Pro-China misinformation operation attempting to exploit US Covid divisions--new report

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Thu, 2021-09-09 07:40 — mike kraft

Pro-China misinformation operation attempting to exploit US Covid divisions, report says A pro-Chinese government online influence operation is targeting Americans in an effort to exploit divisions over the Covid-19 pandemic and "physically mobilize protestors in the US in response," according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Mandiant and experts at Google. Zachary Cohen, CNN CNN

Washington (CNN) A pro-Chinese government online influence operation is targeting Americans in an effort to exploit divisions over the Covid-19 pandemic and "physically mobilize protestors in the US in response," according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Mandiant and experts at Google.

The operation, which initially attempted to discredit pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, has expanded into a "global campaign that's operating in seven languages, on at least 30 social media platforms and across 40+ website & forums," experts at Mandiant and Google say, noting parallels to the Russian disinformation campaign around the 2016 presidential election.

US officials believe the operation is linked to the Chinese government and have been monitoring its evolution, according to one source familiar with the situation. During the 2020 election, US officials were watching to see if the operation might be used to spread disinformation but ultimately assessed that the Chinese government avoided doing so because it did not want to provoke a response, the source added.

Months later, experts have observed an "explosion of activity" across the world and the move to make physical protests happen in the US "demonstrates they are a very serious threat," Mandiant Threat Intelligence Vice President John Hulquist told CNN. ...

ALSO SEE: Pro-China social media campaign hits new countries, blames U.S. for COVID --Reuters

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