this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Facebook said Tuesday it has identified a sprawling online propaganda effort: a pro-China campaign that had a presence on more than 50 websites.

The campaign “appears to be the largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world,” Meta said in a report. The researchers said the broadly coordinated postings of pro-China images, videos, comments and audio files were part of a yearslong operation that researchers had previously dubbed “Spamouflage.”

The findings underscore the potential for internet propaganda campaigns to attempt to exploit internet platforms to influence the U.S. election in 2024. Since 2016, Russia, Iran and to a lesser extent China have all launched covert online efforts to influence U.S. voters.

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[–] Prandom_returns@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Propaganda pushers are the absolute fucking bottomfeeders of the lowest lows.

If your job is purposely, wittingly mislead people, you're a fucking waste of blood and organs.

[–] iHUNTcriminals@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If your job is purposely, wittingly mislead people, you’re a fucking waste of blood and organs.

Not to in any way minimize the evils of propagandists, as they're pushing much more damaging messages, but that describes most of the advertising industry. It's just that those liars and manipulators are doing it for a brand so people waste money rather than a political cause.

It's kind of crazy that we just tolerate an entire massive industry that adds nothing to the world and is based around misleading people. And it's a business run out of fancy glass buildings out in the open rather than hidden away.

[–] Cleverdawny@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's one thing to be paid to extol the virtues of X Y or Z product and entirely another to illegally influence public opinion in another country for political purposes using lies, deceptions, and half truths.

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's really not. Both are "lies, deceptions, and half truths" and neither is "illegal", just unethical. Propaganda is worse because of the goals, not because it's clearly separate endeavor.

[–] Cleverdawny@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you lie in an advertisement, your company is exposed to consumer protection liability

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

What counts as a "lie" in advertising is incredibly narrow and if that's your bar almost none of the highlighted Chinese propaganda meets it.

Advertising is an inherently deceptive business. Products aren't really "#1", the podcaster or celebrity spokesperson almost certainly doesn't mean the words they're speaking, and those claims about "limited lifetime warranties" are intended to imply good lifetime support when the limits are commonly everything that might go wrong after it leaves the assembly line. These lies and deceptions are so routine we think they're harmless because we're conditioned to think lying is just a regular part of business and anyone who actually believes an advertisement is a fool.

[–] HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago

Honestly, I feel like propaganda at least aims a bit higher than typical marketing. You're trying for grand aims of state and party, not trying to convince people to stew their livers in Bud instead of Coors.

[–] krolden@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

Ops post is literally western propaganda

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[–] GuyDudeman@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why is Lemmy not on this list?

[–] Godric@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Because lemmy shills are super obvious, nobody has to "discover" them

[–] socsa@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They aren't even good at it. Their entire schtick is literally "you are obviously biased because you haven't read enough Lenin", like it's this big gotcha.

[–] krolden@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] socsa@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As far as I can tell I've read way more Lenin than your average lemmy tankie

[–] teft@startrek.website 5 points 1 year ago

Reading the article it seems like the whole operation was super obvious and a bit amateurish. Par for the course.

[–] Alteon@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, motherfuckers over at lemmygrad are astroturfing HARD. It's like the Russia/China circlejerk over there. The "greatest socialist experiment of all time". Smfh.

[–] uniqueid198x@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago

I see you haven't met hexbear yet

[–] bioemerl@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

The “greatest socialist experiment of all time”. Smfh.

Ten years later:

China wasn't actually socialist, it was capitalist!

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait do they just mean lemmygrad and hexbear users being federated to all the other instances?

[–] roboticide@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Lol, right?

But actually probably not because it's just taken for granted tankies are here and they actually have to "work" to "infiltrate" places like Facebook and Reddit.

[–] Roundcat@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hey ya'll, I know some of you are here on lemmy, and I let me just say...

Ya'll doing alright? I've read recently about a lot of flooding in Hubei and Jingxi provinces, and despite how I may feel about the CCP and all, I want to make sure ya'll are good.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago
[–] pudcollar@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Roundcat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Don'cha be correctin' my gammar like some kinduv harvard elite!

Its ma dialect, y'ain't gonna tell me how t'contract n conjugate!

[–] iHUNTcriminals@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Roundcat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Well looky there. The Georgia yankee tryin t'tell me howta pronounce his alma mader!

[–] sendmestuff@feddit.nl 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Fuck the people whose work is to push government propaganda. Being a prostitute is more honest than that. You are doing humanity a disservice.

[–] Prandom_returns@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

Weird jab at sex workers..

[–] local_taxi_fix@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The prostitution comparison is completely out of left field. You're implying that sex workers are dishonest, which I don't see at all. The proposition of a sex worker is very upfront.

Lawyer, salesman, CEO, politician, or advertising exec would all be way better examples of dishonest professions.

[–] sendmestuff@feddit.nl 2 points 1 year ago

You are all right. My comparison was quite unfortunate. I wanted to compare with something that some ppl tipically think its less honest. But i agree, i think prostitution/sex work is an honest field of work, much more honest than being a banker, politician nowadays.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What's at all dishonest about sex work?

You're literally showing your client your butthole, no secrets there

[–] awwwyissss@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago
[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

WOW, I'm really surprised by this revelation. 🙃

[–] Faresh@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

i have recently seen quite a few articles such as these, denouncing pro-china propaganda, but I feel like it is foolish to think that china is any worse in that regard than our own countries (western perspective).

I feel articles like this one, only foment anti-chinese sentiment, in favour of just another world power.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

It's like something happened in 1989, not sure what, can't put my finger on it...

[–] Fades@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No fucking shit

[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

This is going to get easier and easier for states to do as AI becomes more common.

[–] iHUNTcriminals@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

These headlines... These articles...

Of course it's happening. Who didn't think it was happening.

[–] ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

President Xi is so smart and able to think many steps ahead.

Our leaders in corrupt so called democracies should take note.

Overall, it's a breath of fresh air to hear the truth.

He is truly a once in a lifetime leader.

[–] JustMy2c@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Your post doesn't spell anything funny at all :)

[–] yoppa@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah that sad. Guess, who didn't see any of these propaganda? Yeap, its me because I dont use facebook.

[–] laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Youve got to be a complete idiot to think you've never encountered propaganda just because you dont use facebook.