China feared MILLIONS of fake Facebook profiles for fake Covid news on larger pages than Messi, Bieber and The Rock
It is an operation that would possibly have inflated the pages of the Communist Party to be among the “popular” maxims on the social media platform.
English versions of Chinese state media dominate lists of the largest accounts: Facebook is truly INTERDIT in China.
China’s massive pages have more fans than some of the world’s biggest celebrities, such as Will Smith, Lionel Messi, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The media also overwhelms sports groups such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, and brands such as Coca-Cola, YouTube and McDonald’s.
Experts told The Sun Online that those staggering subscriber numbers are likely to be badly inflated through large robot account mobilizations to bring pages to life in an attempt to make them more successful in the West.
MPs have asked Facebook to investigate after Ofcom’s government took steps to revoke the license of China’s state television channel CGTN.
The CGTN and public media such as the China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Global Times and People’s Daily are located through Facebook’s leading news organizations.
MP Tom Tugdenhat said Facebook allows China to spread its propaganda, while DEPUTY Tobias Ellwood demanded that the platform have a “duty to act” to combat Chinese misinformation.
Facebook trusted The Sun Online to remove any “harmful misinformation” that spreads through posts and defended its position on the platform because they are “clearly labeled” as state media.
All pages have also grown in recent months, attracting millions more subscribers, according to the Socialbakers tracking site.
And they are all known for driving Strongly China’s narrative about the pandemic and other news, having earned a negative “red” score for its reliability through the NewsGuard surveillance organization.
Tags appear on pages under a “transparency” segment, but are not visual when your timeline is browsing a PC or mobile device.
The media disseminated falsely harmful information about vaccines, the origins of the virus and actively promoted the response of China’s Covid.
The CGTN has published articles explaining why coronavirus is an “AMERICAN weapon,” the Global Times has published articles asserting that Pfzier’s coup can simply involve “toxic substances” and People’s Daily has attempted to link 30 other people who die in Norway.
CGTN is the fourth largest Facebook page with 115 million subscribers, overshadowing all other media, and only the Facebook, Samsung and Cristiano Ronaldo pages.
China Daily has only 103 million, Xinhua has 89 million, People’s Daily 86 million and the Global Times chimney brand, 61 million.
The dangers of Facebook that allow Beijing to expand its propaganda campaigns to tens of millions of people.
The approaching medium is National Geographic, which has 64 million subscribers, or nearly a portion of China’s largest accounts.
No other news page beyond the five Chinese and NatGeo reaches even the 50 biggest Facebook pages.
Compare that to subscribers from other primary media outlets like the BBC, which has 53 million, CNN, which has 34 million, and Fox News, with 18 million.
These disconcerting figures are thought to be a component of a broader crusade across the Chinese state to increase their influence in Britain and the United States, especially as they freeze amid ongoing disputes with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move comes when Facebook promised to take more difficult action on fake news, adding restricting some accounts it deems unreliable and expelling other people from the platform, such as Donald Trump, which had 40 million subscribers.
Chinese state media also has a twitter presence, but those pages are much smaller than they are on social media: CGTN with 13. 6 million subscribers, or about 9% of its format. facebook.
No account in China is even in the maximum of 50 maximum Twitter accounts, which refers to accounts as “state-affiliated media” under their names in users’ calendars.
Tugendhat, chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Sun Online: “Over the next year, it has become clear that PCCh officials and Chinese state media have followed the tactic of employing Western social media platforms to disseminate incorrect information about Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Covid-19.
“The dangers of Facebook that allow Beijing to expand its propaganda campaigns to tens of millions of people.
“Social media platforms will have to be responsible for the dissemination of incorrect information that threatens our democracy. “
Ellwood, chairman of the Select Defense Committee, added: “This illustrates China’s dual popularity, where Facebook is banned. However, he jumps to Facebook in the West to announce his own message. You have both. “
“Facebook has the courage to call China and recognize how it is used as a virtual window to publicize Chinese state thought.
“If Ofcom saw compatibility in banning CGTN in the UK, then Facebook has a duty to act. “
Many newspapers and television channels in China are state-controlled and tasked with selling communist party ideology in the country.
CGTN – The foreign department of Chinese state television, which has become The Fourth Largest Facebook Page, was accused of spreading propaganda, misinformation and spreading forced confessions.
The channel had its British broadcast license revoked through Ofcom, much to the fury of the Chinese state, which responded by banning BBC World News.
China Daily: owned by the Communist Party, this English-language newspaper has been described as a “government spokesman” and also disseminates misinformation.
The newspaper also condemned its description of Uighur Muslims, adding a report that the regime’s brutal policies had “liberated” minority women from being “baby-making machines. “
The Global Times – Often known as the Communist Party’s filterless spokesman, this fiery tabloid does not hit his competitive rhetoric, attacking those who oppose the regime.
He is known for his vicious publishers targeting China’s foreign rivals and, more recently, has sown doubts about the Pfzier vaccine.
The People’s Daily: much more discreet than the Global Times, this newspaper claims to be the voice of the Communist Party.
Last year, the U. S. State Department was in the middle of the U. S. State Department. But it’s not the first time He said the medium was a “foreign mission” by ordering him to disclose data on how it works.
Xinhua News Agency – With 170 offices abroad, Xinhua is one of the largest news agencies in the world, but works under the direction of the Chinese state.
He ordered him to register as a foreign agent in 2018 throughout the United States, but did not, and also declared a “foreign mission” in 2020.
Hannah Bailey, a phD student at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), told Sun Online that they suspected that many fans on those Facebook pages were “non-authentic” users, such as bots.
Bailey said the large number of subscribers helped make the pages serious and attract more genuine users who might be exposed at the time to China’s stories.
She said: “It’s very difficult to verify a bot, however, we strongly suspect that many of those fans and engagements are bot accounts that magnify Chinese state messages to reach genuine users.
“The more subscribers those platforms have, the more media they will be for others who will get their message. It’s a tool of the Chinese state. “
The IIGO produced an article last year that revealed how Chinese state media had massively propelled its narrative about Covid, gaining millions of perspectives and outperviating Western media.
China has spread conspiracy theories, adding that the virus could have been deployed through the US military. But it’s not the first time In Wuhan, and claims that the virus would possibly, in fact, have come from Italy.
More recently, Chinese state media have shared lies about the Pfizer vaccine, while selling their own vaccines.
Theresa Payton, the first female intelligence leader in the White House, ceo of Fortalice Solutions, told Sun Online: “Some of the fans are likely to be legitimate, but there may be a giant percentage of fake characters and controlled bots. artificial intelligence algorithms.
“China denies having achieved such campaigns, but studies continue to reveal that it exploits the manipulation manual using truths in its media, replacing news by adding twists and misinformation, creating fictional organizations, fake characters, chatbots, and synthetic intelligence.
“China is actively involved in the “management of the direction of public opinion. “”What you and I would do misinformation, misinformation and manipulation campaigns.
“They manipulate their own citizens and their global symbol in those campaigns. “
Dr. Tim Stevens, director of the cybersecurity studies organization at King’s College London, told Sun Online that China’s Facebook presence was “almost certainly” inflated with bots and troll accounts.
But he added that many could be authentic Chinese users accessing pages via VPN, China opting to exploit this through its cunning state media, rather than taking strong action.
Dr. Stevens said: “He’s looking to discredit the West. To be a world power, he’ll have to have a say in world affairs. “
He added: “Chinese state media is used to ” melting “opinions around the world, looking to put a set of Chinese-flavored content, there are many and it turns out there’s an audience for that. “
Gray Sergeant, a researcher at the Henry Jackson Society’s Center for Asian Studies, told Sun Online: “The purpose is to know attitudes toward the Communist Party and reflect on China’s position in the world. “
He added: “China has already bought ads on social media and paid trolls to advertise their propaganda.
“Even more worrying, however, is the option that these massive numbers are genuine people and the result of the Chinese Communist Party’s extensive efforts to reshape the global media landscape. “
In a statement, Facebook told Sun Online: “Obviously we labeled the media under the editorial control of their government, adding China, to help others better perceive who the data they see is.
“We do not allow anyone, adding state-controlled media, to publish erroneous data and we will erase it as soon as we realize it.
“We are also working with 80 independent data verification partners around the world to demystify false accusations. “
Relations between the West and China remain strained as the Covid pandemic continues to devastate the world, killing another 2. 6 million people after its appearance in Wuhan.
The documents have already revealed that Beijing downplayed the error to “protect its image,” and there have been repeated accusations that China has manipulated its death and case figures.
China is taking a competitive stance through its international “wolf warrior” relations as it pushes back the West.
And there are doubts as to whether Covid can come from a lab leak in Wuhan, and the World Health Organization ordered a new investigation into the allegations.
The Sun Online has revealed in the past a lack of “dark database” from Wuhan’s lab that can simply be a smoking weapon in key questions about Covid’s origins.
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