Spamouflage

Spamouflage, Dragonbridge, Spamouflage Dragon, Storm 1376, or Taizi Flood is an online propaganda and disinformation operation that uses a network of social media accounts to make posts in favor of the Chinese government and harass dissidents and journalists overseas since 2017.[1][2][3] Beginning in the early 2020s, Spamouflage accounts also began making posts about American and Taiwanese politics.[4][5] It is widely believed that the Chinese government, particularly the Ministry of Public Security, is behind the network.[6][2][7][8][5] Spamouflage has increasingly used generative artificial intelligence for influence operations.[9] The campaign has largely failed to receive views from real users,[4] although it has attracted some organic engagement using new tactics.[8][10]: 2 

  1. ^ Bing, Christopher; Paul, Katie; Bing, Christopher (2024-09-03). "US voters targeted by Chinese influence online, researchers say". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  2. ^ a b O'Sullivan, Donie; Devine, Curt; Gordon, Allison (13 November 2023). "China is using the world's largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  3. ^ "How Microsoft names threat actors". Microsoft Learn. 2024-10-17. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  4. ^ a b Gilbert, David (April 29, 2024). "Why China Is So Bad at Disinformation". Wired. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b Milmo, Dan (2024-04-05). "China will use AI to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea and India, Microsoft warns". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Hsu, Tiffany; Myers, Steven Lee (1 April 2024). "China's Advancing Efforts to Influence the U.S. Election Raise Alarms". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024. The accounts sometimes amplified or repeated content from the Chinese influence campaign Spamouflage, which was first identified in 2019 and linked to an arm of the Ministry of Public Security.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Yang2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Milmo, Dan; Hawkins, Amy (2024-05-18). "How China is using AI news anchors to deliver its propaganda". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Graphika2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).