Meta fights sprawling Chinese 'Spamouflage' operation
Meta on Tuesday said it purged thousands of Facebook accounts that were part of a widespread online Chinese spam operation trying to covertly boost China and criticize the West.
The campaign, which became known as «Spamouflage», was active across more than 50 platforms and forums including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter, according to a Meta threat report.
«We assess that it's the largest, though unsuccessful, and most prolific covert influence operation that we know of in the world today,» said Meta Global Threat Intelligence Lead Ben Nimmo.
«And we've been able to link Spamouflage to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement.»
More that 7,700 Facebook accounts along with 15 Instagram accounts were jettisoned in what Meta described as the biggest ever single takedown action at the tech giant's platforms.
«For the first time we've been able to tie these many clusters together to confirm that they all go to one operation,» Nimmo said.
The network typically posted praise for China and its Xinjiang province and criticisms of the United States, Western foreign policies, and critics of the Chinese government including journalists and researchers, the Meta report says.
The operation originated in China and its targets included Taiwan, the United States, Australia, Britain, Japan, and global Chinese-speaking audiences.
Facebook or Instagram accounts or pages identified as part of the «large and prolific covert influence operation» were taken down for violating Meta rules against coordinated deceptive behavior on its platforms.
Meta's team said the network seemed to garner scant engagement, with viewer comments tending to point out bogus claims.
Clusters of fake accounts were run
