Facebook Reports China’s Attempts to Influence Through Trolls are Increasing

On Tuesday, Facebook informed Australian lawmakers that networks of counterfeit Facebook accounts originating from China are continuously developing and employing fresh strategies to create divisions abroad.

Officials at parent company Meta said the Senate probe by Chinese networks over the past seven months.

Meta spokesman Josh Machin said coordinated networks of Chinese Facebook accounts are increasingly trying to influence public opinion by targeting journalists, charities and public relations.

“We’re seeing a whole new tactic developing,” Machin told the inquiry.

Meta recently took down dozens of Facebook accounts belonging to a China-based network that engaged in a coordinated disinformation campaign in Europe.

The network had shared inflammatory content that attacked immigrants and LGBTQ activists.

It had also set up a cover media company, hired freelance writers and tried to recruit protesters, Meta said in May.

Lawmakers have invested in social media companies as Australia ramps up efforts to detect and stamp out foreign interference, such as election meddling.

The government has said that espionage and foreign interference are “Australia’s primary security concern”.

Australia is holding a historic referendum on indigenous rights this year, amid fears foreign actors are using social media to stoke racial divisions within the country.

Meta’s Australia and New Zealand policy director Mia Garlick said the platform would introduce a number of measures to tackle misinformation ahead of the referendum.

“We have developed a comprehensive strategy in partnership with First Nations communities to combat misinformation and voter interference and other abuses that can occur on our platform,” he said.

Australia has been at the forefront of regulating digital platforms, taking steps to force them to remove violent videos and hand over the identities of online trolls.

The government recently proposed new laws that could lead to tech giants being fined if they fail to crack down on disinformation.

Under the draft law, owners of platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok would have to pay fines worth up to five percent of annual global turnover – one of the highest proposed in the world.