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NEW YORK: Facebook said on Tuesday (September 22) that it had removed a network of inauthentic Chinese accounts that were interfering in Asian and American politics, including some that posted material in support of and opposition to US President Donald Trump.
The social media company said it suspended 155 accounts on its main platform along with six Instagram accounts. The most followed accounts and pages were those from the Philippines, where they shared content supporting China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea and President Rodrigo Duterte.
The US accounts had fewer followers and posted content that propelled both sides of the US elections to be held on November 3, the company said.
Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said the removal was the first of the company’s China-based accounts on the grounds of foreign interference with any involvement in US politics. But he said the US accounts and groups seemed primarily aimed at building an audience.
“The volume of content is so low that it is very difficult to assess what its objective is,” said Gleicher.
Trump and his intelligence officials have said China was favoring Democratic challenger Joe Biden, while Democrats in Congress have said Russia is being more aggressive.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The network of accounts, pages and groups used virtual private networks and other tools to make it appear that they were operated from somewhere other than China, Facebook said.
Fewer than 3,000 people followed the fake US pages, while more than 100,000 accounts tracked the Philippine ones.
The U.S. assets of the operation, added between May and August, included a group called Biden Harris 2020 that had about 1,400 members and one called Trump KAG 2020 that said it supported Trump’s re-election and had only three members, according to the firm of Graphika analysis, who studied material from Facebook.
In the Philippines, the accounts supported both Duterte and his daughter, who could run to succeed him in 2022. They also criticized Rappler, an independent media group that is a frequent target of the Duterte government.
