Abstract
- Google has uncovered a community of over 1,000 faux information web sites spreading pro-China narratives.
- The websites are operated by 4 PR corporations appearing on behalf of an unknown consumer.
- These corporations create web sites that mimic official information shops and publish a mixture of repurposed and pro-China content material.
- Google has blocked the websites from showing on its information platforms as a result of coverage violations.
- The operation highlights using PR corporations to unfold disinformation and obscure the supply of the content material.
Google’s Menace Intelligence Group (TAG), in collaboration with its cybersecurity agency Mandiant, has found a large-scale community of faux information web sites operated by 4 totally different public relations (PR) corporations spreading propaganda aligned with the pursuits of the Chinese language authorities.
Dubbed GLASSBRIDGE, this community of PR corporations has been creating and distributing inauthentic content material globally to form public opinion on key geopolitical points. Since 2022, Google has banned and deindexed over 1,000 web sites linked to GLASSBRIDGE from showing in Google Information and Google Uncover for violating insurance policies towards misleading practices and lack of editorial transparency.
These websites pose as unbiased media shops however push narratives that align with Beijing’s political agenda, together with matters like Taiwan, the South China Sea, and COVID-19. It’s value noting that this information emerged simply weeks after studies revealed North Korean hackers utilizing faux information to distribute malware.
“These campaigns show how private PR firms are being used to conduct coordinated influence campaigns,” Google stated in a weblog submit. “By using these firms, the actors behind the information operations gain deniability, obscuring their role in spreading inauthentic content.”
The campaigns depend on newswire providers to syndicate their content material, with two PR corporations instantly working these providers. The faux information community targets audiences in over 30 international locations, together with america, Australia, Germany, Japan, and Brazil, in addition to Chinese language-speaking diasporas worldwide.
The 4 corporations throughout the GLASSBRIDGE community are:
1. Shanghai Haixun Know-how
Shanghai Haixun Know-how is essentially the most prolific PR agency within the community, with greater than 600 domains linked to its operations already eliminated by Google. These websites goal each English- and Chinese language-speaking audiences, in addition to international locations throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Haixun’s web sites are sometimes stuffed with low-quality, repetitive content material that mixes irrelevant filler articles with pro-China tales. The agency has additionally been caught utilizing freelance platforms reminiscent of Fiverr to rent social media accounts to amplify its messaging.
In July 2023, Haixun’s affect campaigns had been noticed infiltrating official information shops by way of subdomains supplied by its newswire providers, Instances Newswire and World Newswire, permitting it to piggyback on the credibility of established media manufacturers.
2. Instances Newswire and Shenzhen Haimai Yunxiang Media
Google researchers recognized Instances Newswire and its operator, Shenzhen Haimai Yunxiang Media, as key gamers in distributing pro-China propaganda. These entities had been tied to the PAPERWALL marketing campaign, a community of over 100 faux web sites reported by Citizen Lab earlier this 12 months.
These fraud websites, which spanned greater than 30 international locations, revealed a mix of copied native information, conspiracy theories, and smear campaigns concentrating on people essential of Beijing. Many of those articles had been quick, showing briefly on the websites earlier than being eliminated to keep away from detection.
3. DURINBRIDGE
DURINBRIDGE, one other PR and advertising and marketing agency within the community, operates over 200 faux information websites. Whereas most of its content material consists of press releases and generic information, a portion is devoted to spreading pro-China narratives, together with articles linked to DRAGONBRIDGE, a long-standing affect operation tracked by Google.
These websites have additionally been used to advertise politically motivated smear campaigns, reminiscent of concentrating on Taiwanese presidential candidates within the lead-up to elections.
4. Shenzhen Bowen Media
Shenzhen Bowen Media controls a community of greater than 100 imitation information websites designed to cater to particular international locations and cities. Articles are revealed in native languages, together with French, German, Japanese, and Thai, to look extra credible to regional audiences.
The content material usually blends legitimate-looking native information with pro-Beijing narratives sourced from its newswire service, World Newswire, which can be utilized by Haixun.
The Larger Image
This operation is a part of a rising development the place nation-states outsource affect campaigns to personal PR corporations, permitting deniability. By utilizing faux information websites as an alternative of conventional social media disinformation, these campaigns can goal audiences extra successfully, tailoring content material to native languages and points.
The operation additionally refreshes the reminiscence of The EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based NGO specializing in disinformation analysis, which uncovered an enormous pro-Indian affect operation often known as “Indian Chronicles.” This intensive marketing campaign, energetic for over 15 years, aimed to discredit Pakistan and affect worldwide establishments, together with the United Nations and the European Parliament.
Google’s motion to dam these web sites from its information platforms reveals disinformation campaigns are a actuality. The publicity of the GLASSBRIDGE community. For readers, the lesson is to critically consider the sources of stories and confirm data throughout a number of shops.
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