The New York TimesThe New York Times

Meta's 'biggest single takedown' removes Chinese influence campaign

By Sheera Frenkel

29 Aug 2023 · 4 min read

informed Summary

  1. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has removed a Chinese influence campaign that aimed to advance the country's interests and discredit its adversaries. The campaign, which was discovered in 2019, is the largest of its kind to date.

SAN FRANCISCO — On Feb. 27, an article claiming that the United States was behind the bombing of the Nord Stream underwater pipelines in the Baltic Sea was published on the Substack and Blogspot blogging platforms.

Within 24 hours, the article — and other versions of it — had been posted to more websites, including Reddit, Medium, Tumblr, Facebook and YouTube. Translations of the article in Greek, German, Russian, Italian and Turkish also began appearing online.

Sign in to informed

  • Curated articles from premium publishers, ad-free
  • Concise Daily Briefs with quick-read summaries
  • Read, listen, save for later, or enjoy offline
  • Enjoy personalized content
Or

LoginForm.agreeToTerms