Democracy Dies in Darkness

MAGA porn, hate for Trump: China-based accounts stoke division

A fake China-based account called MAGA ‘Hot Babe’ was among nearly 2,000 that sought to influence America’s midterms and were removed by Twitter

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November 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EDT
Twitter’s takedown of China-based networks came during a stormy period for the social media giant as it faced ongoing scrutiny over how it polices misinformation. (Amy Osborne for The Washington Post)
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Twitter has disrupted three China-based operations that were covertly trying to influence American politics in the months leading up the midterm elections by amplifying politically polarizing topics, according to a trove of data released by the social media giant to researchers and The Washington Post.

The operations spanned nearly 2,000 user accounts, some of which purported to be located in the United States, and weighed in on a wide variety of hot-button issues, including election-rigging claims about the 2020 presidential election and criticism of members of the transgender community. Two of the three networks favored the U.S. right and one skewed left. At least some repeated pro-China narratives aimed at an American audience.