123 Chinese websites ‘posing as local news outlets’ in 30 countries: Citizen Lab

A network of 123 Chinese websites are reportedly posing as local news outlets in 30 countries and driving “pro-Beijing disinformation” and “ad hominem attacks” as part of an “influence” campaign linked to a Beijing-based public relations firm, said a report by research group Citizen Lab.   

However, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, according to Reuters, said that it was a “typical bias and double standard to allege that the pro-China contents and reports are disinformation, and to call the anti-China ones true information”.

According to Citizen Lab, these websites operate in Europe, Asia and Latin America, but from within China. It attributed the PR campaign to Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media aka Haimai. 

The Toronto-based group said the propaganda content appeared with news aggregated from local news outlets and Chinese state media. The targeted content included press releases and politically-themed conspiracy theories, aiming “at the image of the US and its allies”. 

These websites, as per the report, “enjoyed negligible exposure” but carried “heightened risk of inadvertent amplification” in local languages. 

Citizen Lab said it began the investigation in 2020 and initially found a series of such websites in Italy and South Korea. One of them, it said, was Roma Journal, which looks like a local Italian news outlet but is operated from China and is “interspersed with a relatively high amount of news related to China, or even directly derived from Chinese news organisations”.

Moreover, the “press releases” section on the website leads to articles on subjects such as China's contribution to the global economic recovery and technological innovation.

This report was published with AI assistance.



source https://www.newslaundry.com/2024/02/08/123-chinese-websites-posing-as-local-news-outlets-in-30-countries-citizen-lab

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sushant Rajput case to Zubair arrest: The rise and rise of cop KPS Malhotra

“Time is not a factor. An old tweet becomes new just by a retweet. Police action is contingent upon when police takes cognisance of an issue,” KPS Malhotra, deputy commissioner of Delhi police, told the news agency ANI after the cyber crimes division he heads arrested Alt News cofounder Muhammad Zubair on Monday. Zubair’s arrest is under a cloud of suspicion, drawing condemnation from several press bodies, including the Editors Guild and the Press Club of India. The journalist was called for questioning in a 2020 case in which he has protection from arrest from the Delhi high court, only to be held for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity through a four-year-old tweet , which an anonymous tweeter who has since vanished from the social media platform apparently found offensive. Zubair’s is the latest high-profile case to be investigated by Malhotra, who was chosen to lead the cyber cell – officially Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations – last Septemb
Read more

प्राइम टाइम पर हिंदू राष्ट्र की चर्चा: सीएनएन न्यूज़-18 पर पुरी शंकराचार्य का इंटरव्यू

Image
“क्या अपने कर्म के द्वारा अपने वर्ण को बदला जा सकता है, क्योंकि कहीं न कहीं यहीं पर समाज में बसे ज्यादा कुंठा है?” “ऐसा है कि विदुरजी थे तो, ब्राह्मण तो नहीं माने गए, लेकिन ब्राह्मणोचित शील और स्वभाव को धारण कर सकते हैं. लेकिन ब्राह्मण की बेटी से विवाह नहीं कर सकते.” पुरी स्थित गोवर्धन मठ के शंकराचार्य का ये जातिवादी जवाब वायरल हो रहा है. यह बातचीत सीएनएन न्यूज़-18 पर शंकराचार्य के साथ हुई. इस पूरी बातचीत में सबसे ज्यादा चर्चा इस बात की हो रही है कि सामने बैठे पत्रकार (आनंद नरसिम्हन) ने शंकराचार्य से पलट कर सवाल क्यों नहीं किया. वह बस मुस्कराते रहे. शंकराचार्य के जातिगत श्रेष्ठता जैसे मूर्खतापूर्ण तर्क पत्रकार ने कोई प्रतिकार दर्ज नहीं किया, उल्टे नतमस्तक होकर दांत दिखाता रहा.  सीएनएन न्यूज़18 के आनंद नरसिम्हन ने इस पूरे इंटरव्यू के दौरान शायद ही पलटकर कोई सवाल किया हो. बल्कि कुछ सवाल भी ऐसे थे जो सीधे तौर पर जातिवाद, सांप्रदायिकता को बढ़ावा देने वाले थे.  इंटरव्यू के दौरान आनंद हिंदू राष्ट्र की अवधारणा पर भी सवाल करते हैं, वे पूछते हैं, “कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि भारत को हिंदू राष्ट्र घ
Read more

Unravelling the friction between CPIM and Kerala’s major media houses

Image
Malayalam news anchor Hashmi Taj Ibrahim, known for his passionate delivery of opinions on his show Encounter , unleashed a powerful monologue in defence of his colleague Vineetha VG, recently named in a bizarre case.  The drama unfolded on December 23, 2023 after Vineetha, simply reporting on a protest where a shoe was hurled at Pinarayi Vijayan’s vehicle, found herself accused of conspiring against Pinarayi. This absurdity ignited a wave of outrage among journalists, culminating in Hashmi's electrifying on-camera address. “Phone call snippets and flimsy accusations? That's not how you silence us,” Hashmi said. “Vineetha is one of us, and we stand by her.” He challenged the authorities: “If you are doing this only to scare us – knowing well that the case is a sham and will fail miserably in the court – register 100 cases, not just one. We are not going to cut off our tongues and place them in baskets to do your bidding.” Ironically, Hashmi is a former leader of the Student
Read more