Meta deleted 7,704 Facebook accounts, 954 pages, and 15 Instagram accounts in an effort to stifle the “largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world,” according to the company. 

The company described its actions in its new Q2 Quarterly Adversarial Threat report. The primary mode of influence targeted in this operation was “positive commentary” about China, particularly the province of Xinjiang, where alleged human rights abuses and genocide against Uyghur Muslims have taken place. 

Along with the positive commentary, these accounts also criticized the US, Western foreign policies, and critics of the Chinese government such as journalists and researchers. Narratives such as claims that Covid-19 originated from the US were also propagated through these channels. 

“This network originated in China and targeted many regions around the world, including Taiwan, the United States, Australia, the UK, Japan, and global Chinese-speaking audiences,” said Meta in its report. 

The mode of dissemination was usually spam, links, memes and posts, with the network apparently spending around £2,767 on advertisements to amplify their reach.3 

According to Meta’s report, this particular campaign has been running for about five years and was connected to the network and clusters of other campaigns which it had previously removed from its platforms. 

According to Meta’s investigation, despite attempts to hide their identities, the campaign had links to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement. 

The method of dissemination known as “Spamouflage” – where politically motivated content is blended into a stream of regular videos or pictures – was first detected and blocked by Meta in 2019.

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Spamouflage campaigns are active on more than 50 platforms and forums according to Meta, from geographically dispersed operators across China. Other notable platforms include X, YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit. 

“Despite the very large number of accounts and platforms it used, Spamouflage consistently struggled to reach beyond its own (fake) echo chamber. Many comments on Spamouflage posts that we have observed came from other Spamouflage accounts trying to make it look like they were more popular than they were,” said Meta.

According to Meta’s report, there are few instances where Spamouflage was amplified by real-world influencers, meaning “its overall ability to reach authentic audiences has been consistently very low.