Target: Thousands of fake Facebook accounts opened in China, aiming to influence US elections

Meta, the company that owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, announced today that several thousand fake Facebook accounts were created in China, which appear to belong to American citizens and from which political content is shared, with the intention of influencing the elections in the United States that will be held next year.

A network composed of about 4.800 fake profiles tried to collect as many followers and "friends" as possible and thus achieve a significant impact on the audience, but Meta identified them and deleted their accounts.

The fake profiles, which had photos, names and locations of average American Facebook users, did not share fake news, but statements from various politicians and news from news outlets, mostly published on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

Reports with both liberal and conservative content were downloaded and shared, but not with the aim of supporting one side or the other, but to emphasize ideological differences and with the intention of further polarizing American society, it was announced.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the discovery of a network of fake accounts proves that US adversaries are using its technology companies to create discord and mistrust in society.

California-based Meta was unable to prove the fake account network's connection to the Chinese government, but it determined that all the fake accounts were opened in China.

The content shared by these accounts on Facebook is consistent with Chinese propaganda and disinformation by which Beijing exaggerates ideological differences in the US. To make the accounts seem more convincing, they occasionally share content about fashion or pets.

Earlier this year, some accounts abruptly changed their American usernames and profile photos to make it look like their owners lived in India. Pro-Chinese content about Tibet and India was then disseminated from them, showing how fake networks of new users can quickly and easily focus on new targets.

Meta executives discussed the activity of the fake accounts network during a conference call with reporters yesterday, a day after the tech giant announced its policies for the upcoming election year, most of which were in place during previous elections.

However, experts who study the connection between social media and disinformation said that 2024 presents new challenges.

A large number of countries will hold elections that year, and the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence programs means that it will be easier than ever to create realistic audio and video materials, the content of which could deceive voters.