Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Tuesday it disrupted the “largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world” and found links to Chinese law enforcement.
The social media company took down 7,704 Facebook accounts, 954 Pages, 15 Groups and 15 Instagram accounts tied to the operation, according to Meta’s second-quarter Adversarial Threat Report.
The cross-platform activity used in the operation, known as “Spamouflage,” targeted more than 50 platforms and forums, according to the report. In addition to Facebook and Instagram, the disinformation campaign’s targets included X — the platform formerly known as Twitter — YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and Pinterest.
Meta found that distinct clusters of the fake accounts were run from different parts of China in groups that “may have worked from a shared location, such as an office,” and operated in “clear” shifts.
“Each cluster worked to a clear shift pattern, with bursts of activity in the mid-morning and early afternoon, Beijing time, with breaks for lunch and supper, and then a final burst of activity in the evening,” the report noted.
The groups often shared the same proxy internet infrastructure and posted identical content —typically supportive of China and critical of the U.S., Western foreign policies and Chinese detractors — across various platforms, according to the report.
Despite efforts to conceal their identities, Meta said in the report it found “links to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement.”
The disinformation campaign had lower operational security compared to similar networks Meta has identified because it repeatedly used the same accounts and often posted the same articles with “highly distinctive headlines” across multiple platforms and accounts, according to the report.
Meta noted that headlines with typos, language mixes and unique formulations created distinct indicators that open-source researchers could use to find other activity connected to the operation.
The operation also “consistently struggled to reach beyond its own (fake) echo chamber” despite its large size, the report said, which Meta attributed to poor quality control.