China is behind the largest known covert propaganda operation ever identified on Facebook and Instagram, according to a new report by security researchers at Meta.
Meta on Tuesday outed the authors of a four-year long influence campaign dubbed “Spamouflage Dragon,” which first appeared in 2019 to spread propaganda about Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. Since then, the campaign has focused on spreading disinformation about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, attacking dissidents and critics abroad, criticizing the United States, and attempting to sow division during the 2022 midterm elections.
For years, researchers have speculated that the voluminous Spamouflage Dragon posts were connected to the Chinese government but have been unable to publicly prove a link until now. The link comes courtesy of overlapping content found in both Meta’s report and charges filed against Chinese intelligence operatives back in spring.
So apparently they really suck at it? That’s kind of hilarious
They don’t mention what the propagandists push about COVID. The usual line from weirdo propagandists is that COVID is a secret bioweapon and was released from the Wuhan labs intentionally. I assume China wouldn’t sign on to that one? Do they just push the scientific consensus, which is that the origin is unknown but is probably natural, and possibly an unintentional lab leak? Or an exaggeration thereof which completely discounts the lab leak theory but still asserts what is most probable – it’s from animals? That’s pretty weak sauce for propaganda. Maybe they push some nuance about COVID that only the Chinese government cares about. Or maybe they go buck wild and say it was developed by NATO biolabs in Ukraine.
So in the report by Meta, they go into a little more detail. One post in particular claimed that Fort Detrick is the origin of Covid. Fort Detrick is located in Maryland, and a quick google shows that it hasn’t worked on biological weapons since the late 60s.
Here’s Meta’s full report: https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.8562-6/10000000_180063885098584_6098733693167598956_n.pdf?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=ae5e01&_nc_ohc=xfoti16XMyMAX_H1sjP&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfBw-FF6-NEqznOXr7ZYyGNvrEZbb-9FFm6Bw6K8eZJ_pg&oe=64F1F5AE
So basically they tried to do what Russia did but worse
Consensus has always been likely lab leak, higher ups were just covering for fauci and his involvement in funding the lab. And others were silenced by the whole “lab leak theory is racist” mob.
Edit: Why am I getting downvoted? Have yall not been keeping up on the news on the topic. Am I misinformed?
Yes. You are misinformed.
Would… you… mind… sharing your source of information? I don’t recall precisely where I got my information from, but it was definitely along the lines of CNN/MSNBC/NYT and not Breitbart or Trump, jic its that cultural identity that people are downvoting.
The most recent lab leak stuff, as far as I’m aware, which did make the news was a thing published by some federal agency detailing the lab leak. However, what they didn’t (and rarely do) report was that it had a low confidence rating. It was basically them exploring the idea, but they don’t believe that was the cause. Just one possible cause out of many.
Can you give me a source from CNN/MSNBC/NYT where the meat market origin was created to cover up for Fauci? Your entire premise, save the idea that a lab “might” have been the source, is all conspiracy theory and not at all consensus.
I don’t think a possible lab leak has been ruled out, however, my understanding is that we really just don’t know (at least publicly).
I think the downvotes are a reaction to the amount of COVID-19 misinformation that has been pumped out over the years, with the lab leak theory being pushed by people who didn’t even believe in COVID in the first place.
I’ve never understood the resistance to discussing the origins of Covid. It’s pretty important for understanding possible future risks. As far as being racist, I don’t get that either. We have to be able to criticize other nations regardless of who they are. I have a lot of respect for what China has done over the last few decades, it doesn’t mean they might not have screwed up and leaked a deadly disease out of a lab.
The reality is that we’ll probably never know for sure what happened because China blocked anyone else from investigating until long after the fact.
The lab leak theory isn’t racist, but lots of racists really love pushing it. And even if it was true, it wouldn’t mean anything. China was doing research on the viral strains they are most vulnerable to and it got out… so what? It was already in the wild. That’s the point of research.
Now if someone had actual proof it was a bioweapon program, that would be worth talking about, but no one does.
You don’t think that a lab leak might suggest a need for more robust standards at such labs? It’s flawed to suggest that there aren’t differing future mitigation implications depending on how Covid started.
As far as racists clinging to certain theories, that doesn’t preclude rational people from talking about them as well. It’s the same kind of reasoning that produces arguments like, “Well, we can’t criticize Israel, because… Nazis!”
And, frankly, I have always found the idea that Covid started in a wet market much more racially charged than the idea of a lab leak.
The reasoning doesn’t make sense to me on multiple levels.
Even if it was a protocol failure, they’d have fixed it afterwards.
The obsession with the theory with no proof is just conspiracy thinking at best, for what? They’re fucking genociding millions of people as it is, why is a potential accident the issue at hand?
That’s what doesn’t make sense to me.
We have proof of a genocide, but the viral outbreak we’ve known was coming for twenty years is the problem?
Yeah, I just think the resistance to even discussing it is very strange. Not suggesting conspiracy, just good old fashioned human irrationally.