The company disabled the China-based network.
QUICK FACTS:
- Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced Tuesday that they disabled a network based in China that was attempting to cause political division ahead of the midterm elections.
- The social media company reportedly found about 80 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that were working to exacerbate “hot button” issues such as gun control and abortion.
- Posts from the groups first appeared in late 2021, posing as liberals calling out conservatives on gun control and abortion as well as picking on conservative lawmakers.
- The group also reportedly posed as conservatives, poking at leftist topics like calling out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden.
- While Meta seemed sure the campaign originated in China, they didn’t say whether it was connected to the Chinese government.
- The general messaging from the group was said to promote the mantra “America bad, China good.”
META’S COMMENTS:
- “What this operation was doing was targeting US domestic politics, targeting both sides,” Meta global threat intelligence lead Ben Nimmo said in a statement.
- “And it’s the first time we’ve seen that from a Chinese operation in this way. So even though it was small, even though we caught it early, it’s a significant change in what we’ve seen from Chinese operations,” he added.
- Details about the operation also stated that the attack campaign was primarily taking place during working hours, 5-days a week on China’s schedule. “This meant that the operation was mostly posting when Americans were sleeping,” the social media giant stated.
BACKGROUND:
- Meta has taken an intense amount of heat from conservatives, particularly about issues of censorship, such as blocking content about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
- As American Faith previously reported, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted to podcaster Joe Rogan that Facebook censored information about Hunter Biden’s laptop at the request of the FBI.
- According to Zuckerberg, law enforcement officials warned that there could be “Russian propaganda” ahead of the 2020 residential election.
