Facebook, Twitter bust Chinese campaign aimed at Hong Kong

Twitterand Facebook said on Monday they had dismantled a state-backed information operation originating in mainland China that soughtto undermine protests in Hong Kong.

Twitter said it suspended 936 accounts and the operationsappeared to be a co-ordinated state-backed effort originating inChina. It said these accounts were just the most active portionsof this campaign and that a "larger, spammy network" ofapproximately 200,000 accounts had been proactively suspendedbefore they were substantially active.

Facebook said it had removed accounts and pages from a smallnetwork after a tip from Twitter. It said that its investigationfound links to individuals associated with the Chinesegovernment.

Social media companies are under pressure to stem illicitpolitical influence campaigns online ahead of theU.S. election in November 2020. A 22-month U.S. investigation concluded that Russiainterfered in a "sweeping and systematic fashion" in the 2016U.S. election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.

The Chinese embassy in Washington and the U.S. StateDepartment were not immediately available to comment.

Canada also expects foreign actors, including Russia, to attempt to meddle in the federal election this October.

'Just get out of here!'

The Hong Kong protests, which have presented one of thebiggest challenges for Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012, began in June as opposition to anow-suspended bill that would allow suspects to be extradited tomainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.

They have since swelled into wider calls for democracy.

Twitter in a blog post said the accounts undermined thelegitimacy and political positions of the protest movement in Hong Kong.

Examples of posts provided by Twitter included a tweet froma user with photos of protesters storming Hong Kong's Legislative Council building, which asked: "Are these people who smashed the Legco crazy or taking benefits from the bad guys?It's a complete violent behavior, we don't want you radicalpeople in Hong Kong. Just get out of here!"

In examples provided by Facebook, one post called theprotesters "Hong Kong cockroaches" and claimed that they "refused to show their faces."

In a separate statement, Twitter said it was updating itsadvertising policy and would not accept advertising from state-controlled news media entities going forward.

Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube video service told Reutersin June that state-owned media companies maintained the same privileges as any other user, including the ability to run adsin accordance with its rules. YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday on whether it haddetected inauthentic content related to protests in Hong Kong.