Cybersecurity
Spamouflage Dragon Infiltrates Internet With Clumsy Pro-China, Anti-West Messages
‘Mold of the internet’ has appeared on 50 platforms, researchers say
China-based disinformation has infiltrated all corners of social media: Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, TripAdvisor, and Pinterest.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty ImagesWhen a Twitter account for Utah business coach Spencer Taggart began posting about hot-button political issues in 2020, it garnered widespread attention. Tweets about an endemic cultural divide in the US and support for Black Lives Matter were shared by two Chinese embassy officials.
But Taggart didn’t write the tweets and hasn’t been on the social media platform, now called X, in five years. Rather, his identity had been hijacked by a massive pro-China propaganda network, according to the social media analysis firm Graphika.