Google blocked 1,000-plus pro-China fake news websites from its search results
- Reference: 1732516152
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/11/25/google_beijing_propaganda/
- Source link:
"Collectively these firms bulk-create and operate hundreds of domains that pose as independent news websites from dozens of countries, but are in fact publishing thematically similar, inauthentic content that emphasizes narratives aligned to the political interests of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)," [1]declared Google.
It's named the network “Glassbridge” and asserted it’s comprised of entities operating in concert while pretending to be independent.
[2]
While Google could not confirm the leadership of Glassbridge, it assessed that the four entities – Shanghai Haixun Technology, Times Newswire, Durinbridge, and Shenzhen Bowen Media – were taking direction from a shared customer outsourcing the creation and distribution of pro-PRC content.
[3]
[4]
That content included regurgitated state sponsored media, press releases and other material. When it appeared online, it often did so mixed alongside more innocuous content, as well as conspiracy theories or ad hominem attacks on specific individuals.
The actors behind the campaign used digital PR firms, a ploy Google feels gave the operation plausible deniability, and could obscure the true source’s role in the "dissemination of coordinated inauthentic content."
[5]
The most prolific of the four entities was Shanghai Haixun Technology. It had 600 domains that Google removed from its news search feature, and a number of YouTube channels that were also terminated. The group has been operating for a while – in 2022, 59 domains and 14 subdomains hosted by Shanghai Haixun were identified by Mandiant as [6]slinging bogus pro-Beijing content.
[7]Spamouflage trolls pretend to be American patriots on X, TikTok ahead of US presidential election
[8]China-linked fake news site shows disinformation on the rise
[9]China is trolling rare-earth miners online and the Pentagon isn't happy
[10]Beijing fosters foreign influencers to spread its propaganda
Overall, Google revealed it has blocked over 1,000 sites from Google News and Google Discover since 2022. The takedowns were a response to what the search giant deemed deceptive behavior, and out of editorial transparency.
The Chocolate Factory reckons that Glassbridge's use of newswires indicates that information operations actors have moved beyond social media to spread their narratives. Similar tactics have been observed at Russian and Iranian operators.
But that doesn't mean Beijing is abandoning its [11]foreign influencers . Plenty of government-linked trolls have been [12]spotted this year – including from a separate influencing operations group tracked as Dragonbridge.
Dragonbridge content is also regularly found on websites related to Durinbridge and Shenzhen Bowen, Google’s researchers wrote. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/glassbridge-pro-prc-influence-operations
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z0RY1jK4FuHbq-6fef6oLQAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z0RY1jK4FuHbq-6fef6oLQAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z0RY1jK4FuHbq-6fef6oLQAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z0RY1jK4FuHbq-6fef6oLQAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/05/china_fake_news/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/03/spamouflage_trolls_us_elections/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/05/china_fake_news/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/28/dod_china_dragonbridge/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/27/china_foreign_inflluencers_aspi/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/27/china_foreign_inflluencers_aspi/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/03/spamouflage_trolls_us_elections/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: To what end?
I wonder what the ROI is on some of these efforts?
"Elections are a means of transferring cash from doners to TV stations"
Re: To what end?
The US is the land with the most weapons within the population, and a population steadily being fed a diet of misinformation such that they have zero trust in their own government. (This misinformation comes from both outside and within).
Eventually it will likely hit a point, where the government has to start allocating large portions of their budget (and military) into controlling the internal population, and so have less to spend on the outside world. With the US turned inwards, that leaves far more space for the likes of Russia and China to act in the rest of the world, with less chance of US involvement.
It's a long term ROI, with no guarantee of success, but it's not exactly a huge expenditure for the potential rewards.
Hell, you can already see some of the successes with Trump back as president, his complete disrespect for NATO, seeming willingness to let Russia do whatever it likes in Ukraine, and complete focus on "Internal enemies" within the US. Yes, he also talks about turning the heat up on China, but he has also said he wont go to war for Taiwan. So there's certainly wins there for some of those pedalling the propoganda...
Re: To what end?
I subscribed to a FB contributor publishing science articles. After a few posts I realised that every single revolutionary world changing discovery was attributed to researchers with Chinese surnames. Not just in Chinese institutions but all over the world.
Could be coincidence, there's a lot of people in the world with Chinese surnames, but I'm more minded to think its part of the ramping up of soft power and there are probably many similar contributors setting the narrative that China is smart, China is your friend etc.
Of course China has the same proportion of smart people as anywhere else but that's offset by a system where smartness is only conditionally rewarded. As for being our friends...
Re: To what end?
It seems that US elections often hang on a relatively small percentage of voters in a small number of states. You can imagine that with a relatively small effort you could change the results, and have an absolutely disproportionate impact. If you consider the amount of money that is poured every day into advertising for much smaller stakes, it does make sense.
My guess
Sow enough FUD in a population that it becomes more difficult to govern.
Adding bias to all those AI bots busily farming t'internet to feed their models.
To what end?
Not my field of expertise I will concede, but I cannot get my head around the amount of effort and time put into propaganda that some of these entities do.
The US elections was another minefield of misinformation too.
I wonder what the ROI is on some of these efforts?
Anyone?