A new report from Recorded Future's Insikt Group research team examines how the Chinese government exerts influence on Americans through an organized social media campaign.
Unlike Russia, which has weaponized social media as a means to sow discord and undermine democracy within the U.S., China's objective is to present itself in a more positive, benign light, explained report author Priscilla Moriuchi, head of nation-state threat research at Recorded Future, in an interview with SC Media at the RSA 2109 conference.
Moriuchi said that China attempts to sway Western opinions through the spread of biased, English-language news accounts that favor China's stance on global issues, including the ongoing trade war with America. Her report explains that this social media activity is generally conducted by state-run news agencies, including the entities Xinhua, People’s Daily, China Global Television (CGTN), China Central Television (CCTV), China Plus News, and the Global Times. By Recorded Future's account, these organizations posted over 40,000 times between Oct. 1, 2018 through Jan. 21, 2019.
Moriuchi's colleague, threat intelligence analyst Greg Lesnewich also gave SC Media a sneak preview of a forthcoming Recorded Future report on the Yemeni government's recent attempts to locally censor the internet.
