When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man.
A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida.
New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence.
Intelligence and national security officials have said that Russia, China and Iran have all mounted online influence operations targeting U.S. voters ahead of the November election. Russia remains the top threat, intelligence officials say, even as Iran has become more aggressive in recent months, covertly supporting U.S. protests against the war in Gaza and attempting to hack into the email systems of the two presidential candidates.
China, however, has taken a more cautious, nuanced approach. Beijing sees little advantage in supporting one presidential candidate over the other, intelligence analysts say. Instead, China’s disinformation efforts focus on campaign issues particularly important to Beijing — such as American policy toward Taiwan — while seeking to undermine confidence in elections, voting and the U.S. in general.
Officials have said it’s a longer-term effort that will continue well past Election Day as China and other authoritarian nations try to use the internet to erode support for democracy.
The easiest way for me to repel all the Chinese spam bots, I've found, was just to put a "proud Taiwanese American" (which I am of course), on my LinkedIn profile, and a TW flag on all my other...
Instead, China’s disinformation efforts focus on campaign issues particularly important to Beijing — such as American policy toward Taiwan
The easiest way for me to repel all the Chinese spam bots, I've found, was just to put a "proud Taiwanese American" (which I am of course), on my LinkedIn profile, and a TW flag on all my other public facing accounts, they seem to leave me alone after that. Maybe I need to do this on my dating profiles too...
It’s so weird how you never see a foreign election interference operation posting pro-Harris stuff. It’s always Trump. I guess Xi really likes the guy. China just wants to make America great again.
It’s so weird how you never see a foreign election interference operation posting pro-Harris stuff. It’s always Trump. I guess Xi really likes the guy. China just wants to make America great again.
In 2016 at least, it appears that most of the Russian interference was aimed at amplifying strong opinions and conflict. The Mueller Report noted that foreign disinformation was aimed to boost...
In 2016 at least, it appears that most of the Russian interference was aimed at amplifying strong opinions and conflict. The Mueller Report noted that foreign disinformation was aimed to boost both the Trump campaign and the Sanders campaign.
In my own opinion, I’m guessing that foreign actors of this style have an interest in the US government being as chaotic and/or as internally conflicted as possible.
Or, in the 2016 case, Russia had direct interest in the lifting of sanctions that Trump performed in 2019. It’s worth noting that Hillary Clinton’s state department during the Obama administration was the group that imposed those sanctions.
The easiest way for me to repel all the Chinese spam bots, I've found, was just to put a "proud Taiwanese American" (which I am of course), on my LinkedIn profile, and a TW flag on all my other public facing accounts, they seem to leave me alone after that. Maybe I need to do this on my dating profiles too...
It’s so weird how you never see a foreign election interference operation posting pro-Harris stuff. It’s always Trump. I guess Xi really likes the guy. China just wants to make America great again.
In 2016 at least, it appears that most of the Russian interference was aimed at amplifying strong opinions and conflict. The Mueller Report noted that foreign disinformation was aimed to boost both the Trump campaign and the Sanders campaign.
In my own opinion, I’m guessing that foreign actors of this style have an interest in the US government being as chaotic and/or as internally conflicted as possible.
Or, in the 2016 case, Russia had direct interest in the lifting of sanctions that Trump performed in 2019. It’s worth noting that Hillary Clinton’s state department during the Obama administration was the group that imposed those sanctions.
Because Trump is bad for American economic and military superiority. Russia and China want a weaker America.