![Officials from Facebook's parent company Meta said there had been a noticeable shift in tactics by China-based networks over the past seven months. [Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/07/12/42973-336y9ba-highres-739_416.webp)
Networks of fake Facebook accounts run from China are "evolving" and adopting new tactics in their quest to sow discord overseas, the social media platform told Australian lawmakers Tuesday (July 11).
Fronting a Senate inquiry into foreign interference, officials from parent company Meta said there had been a noticeable "shift in tactics" by China-based networks over the past seven months.
Meta spokesman Josh Machin said co-ordinated networks of Chinese Facebook accounts were increasingly trying to influence public opinion by targeting journalists, charities and public relations firms.
"We are seeing a whole new range of tactics evolving," Machin told the inquiry.
Meta recently removed dozens of Facebook accounts belonging to a China-based network waging a co-ordinated disinformation campaign in Europe.
Takedown in May
The networks originated in China and targeted social media users in many regions, including in the United States, Europe, India, Tibet, Taiwan, sub-Saharan Africa, Japan, Central Asia and the Uighur community around the world.
"The latest behaviours included creating a front media company in the West, hiring freelance writers around the world, offering to recruit protesters and co-opting an NGO in Africa," it said.
On Twitter, an account named in the Meta report called New Europe Observation shared incendiary content attacking migrants to Europe and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists.
One tweet by the group from last August said it was hiring "part-timers" to attend a protest in Hungary against billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a financier who is frequently a target of far-right conspiracy theories.
Some of its Twitter posts used viral tweets from far-right accounts.
Interspersed with the Europe-focused messaging was content pushing Beijing's line on its policies in China's Xinjiang region.
Beijing has detained more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking inhabitants of the far-western Xinjiang region in a secretive network of detention centres and prisons over the past few years.
Accusations include mass incarceration, forced labour, compulsory sterilisation, systematic rape and the destruction of Uighur cultural and Islamic sites.
China also has kept its people like the way the Soviet Union has supported them. I have heard that the former Soviet Union used to keep their people/countries under their control in a way as they were not allowed to listen to the Western media; they arranged the system in a way as the people could not hear or watch the foreign especially the western media inside the Soviet Union. I listened to the same thing about China as well. A friend of ours who was studying his master's studies in China said they could not access Facebook and Youtube in China. It was not that they do not have access to social media in that country, but the Chinese use their own Apps and social media; however, when I look at Facebook, sometimes I see China Radio International that has a Facebook page for its propagation, I say that everyone is thinking about themselves. The Chinese know that in Afghanistan, most Afghans use Facebook, so China needs to present its news and opinions to Afghans through Western social media, not their phones. It is worth mentioning that, social media has put many young people out of work and ruined their lives, people are collectively talking about the education of young people, and in this regard, the topic that is now required habituation, and people find it trustworthy. I suffer from the discord between Afghans on Facebook. Instead, we take advantage of Facebook and YouTube; we use them to present our conflicts. We started to use Facebook before we knew about social behavi
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Disadvantages of using Facebook: Facebook has caused depression in young people. If you are always sad or tired, the main reason is that you are using Facebook a lot. Scientists in Denmark revealed in a study that young people who use Facebook face more depression and feel lost. If young people want to bring their past happiness back into their lives, they should review using Facebook. Scientists at the University of Copenhagen conducted this study, and they compared the youth of 1905 with the youth of today, who were stronger physically and mentally. The researchers first divided the youth into two groups. In this study, the first group of young people was instructed to use Facebook continuously, and the second group was instructed not to use Facebook. Those who used Facebook were disappointed with their physical abilities and did not feel happy in their lives. Researchers have said if you enjoy using Facebook, you should take a break to strengthen your physical ability and bring happiness into your life.
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I have been using Facebook since 2013, and now I am very frustrated with using it. It used to be a good social network. Still, it's very boring, especially in Afghanistan, where the Taliban government has come, and Facebook has started destroying the common people (Facebook users). If we broadcast something as news, report, or notification, they impose restrictions on us for months and do not let our broadcasts reach many people. This failed policy of Facebook imposes restrictions and limitations on its users, and if another network comes instead, I am sure that Facebook will soon be forced to leave the market, especially in Afghanistan its fans will reach zero level...
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