I found the reports of Twitter and Facebook’s responses to China’s using their platforms to spread disinformation about Hong Kong interesting. From CNBC:
Twitter and Facebook have suspended numerous accounts that they say are tied to a Chinese disinformation campaign against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Twitter said Monday it suspended 936 accounts likely related to the activity. The company said the disinformation campaign was designed to “sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political protest movement on the ground.â€
Twitter’s statement is here. Facebook’s is here.
They have taken the steps on the grounds that the accounts in question have violated their terms of service, in particular, as Facebook worded it, “inauthentic behavior”. Perhaps my cynicism is showing but I suspect that inauthentic behavior constitutes 90% of their traffic. I wonder if the social media sites recognize how inadequate their response is. It’s the proverbial shutting the barn door after the horses have bolted.
I also wonder who the target audience of the disinformation campaign is. Twitter is banned in China but widely accessed via proxy servers and VPNs. Using Facebook and Twitter to mount a diinformation campaign whose target audience is people who are notionally blocked from using it is a bit of triple Lindy. The target audience is presumably within Hong Kong. How effective could that be? The demonstrators and riot police aren’t exactly hiding. It all seems terribly byzantine to me.
It’s target audience is overseas Chinese and persuadable non-Chinese.
The CCP think of one fact; Sun Yat-sen who led the movement to overthrow the Qing dynasty; spent most of his life in exile.