Attack on Biden after impersonating fervent Trump fan
Similar to China’s 2016 U.S. presidential election meddling
Reports have emerged from foreign media that fake social media accounts, seemingly backed by the Chinese government, are posing as supporters of former President Donald Trump before launching attacks on President Joe Biden.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 1st (local time), citing multiple experts and U.S. government officials, that some Chinese accounts are fomenting division in the U.S. by impersonating fervent Trump fans. China reportedly used this tactic during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
For example, one X (formerly Twitter) account introduced itself as a father, husband, and son, highlighted President Biden’s aging risk, and then circulated a false photo of President Biden in a prisoner’s uniform, along with outlandish claims that he was a Satan worshipper and pedophile.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a non-profit research organization tracking fake accounts, argued that these accounts are linked to the Chinese government’s “spamouflage” tactics. Spamouflage is a portmanteau of spam and camouflage, referring to spreading fake news through social media and other means. This is because there were traces of posts written in Chinese related to pro-China content in their past posts.
In addition, the U.S. think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies found 170 unverified pages and fake accounts that overtly attacked President Biden and spread anti-American messages. The NYT analyzed that China appears to be causing partisan division with the intention of undermining Biden administration policies.
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