US says China ran multi-year campaign on social media to silence critics

(Image: Suneesh K)

More than 40 members of a Chinese task force created fake social media profiles and set up a secret police station in New York to silence critics of the Chinese government, the United States department of justice (DOJ) has alleged.

DOJ said that one account claimed to be "Susan Miller", while another used the alias "Julie Torres". None of the accounts had any substantial following on social media but they all appeared to share the same dissent for US policies against China, the Engadget reported DoJ as saying.

Also Read | Are advertisers who remain wary of trolls actually returning to Twitter?

China's ministry of public security tracked their agents and rewarded people who managed to run multiple social media profiles without being detected, DoJ said.

These Chinese agents also attempted to discredit US policies and spread misinformation about various individuals and movements like Black Lives Matter, the report said.

Also Read | Social media rules in India 'quite strict', says Elon Musk

US attorney Breon Peace accused China of using its national police "as a troll farm that attacks persons in our country for exercising free speech in a manner that the PRC government finds disagreeable, and also spreads propaganda whose sole purpose is to sow divisions within the United States".