Information Warfare Watch No. 46 | American Foreign Policy Council

NEW TECH AND THE FIGHT AGAINST DISINFO
Technological change is driving an explosion of misinformation and disinformation, as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, as well as the "internet of things" expand the mediums by which propaganda is disseminated. That's the conclusion of a new study published by the New Lines Institute. In this domain, the study, entitled "The Double-Edged Sword," notes, Russia may be the most conspicuous actor. However, China now represents a rising and increasingly capable threat.

Specifically, "Chinese fake social media accounts, bot networks, troll farms, and content farms, as well as more traditional state-run media and wolf diplomacy, have been used to push fake news," the report details. And now, "Chinese actors are increasingly using new technologies including deepfakes and generative AI to create a large amount of new content quickly."

The problem is pervasive. The New Lines study cites data from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, which "analyzed 151 global elections held in 2023 and 2024, concluding 41 had interference from generative AI." What it found was that "China constituted a 'high number' of these threat activities between 2023 and 2024, and it was assessed as 'almost certain' that the country 'leverage[s] generative AI to spread disinformation narratives' and 'very likely' they will continue." (New Lines Institute, May 2025)

MANILA INVESTIGATES CHINESE INFLUENCE OPS
Earlier this Spring, amid growing concern, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ordered an investigation into Chinese efforts to influence the country's then-upcoming elections. The late-April order followed testimony to the Senate by a top National Security Council official detailing evidence of a Chinese information operation, as well as explosive charges of the same by a sitting Senator. The lawmaker, Francis Tolentino, alleged that the Chinese embassy in Manila has driven the proliferation of "troll farms" in the country, paying local marketing firms to conduct online operations. "These troll farms were engaged not only to openly provide information and convey the policies of the Chinese government but also to act as a covert disinformation and influence operation against the Philippine government and the Filipino people," Toledano said.

The incident has caused a fresh fissure in the already-tense ties between Manila and Beijing. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, brushed off the allegations, saying that China "[has] no interest in interfering in Philippine elections" and condemning the comments as "heinous accusations towards China" made by opportunistic politicians. (Reuters, April 25, 2025)

HOW AFRICAN MILITANTS ARE HARNESSING TIKTOK
Islamic radicals in Nigeria are using China's wildly-popular social media app, TikTok, to champion their battlefield gains – and draw new adherents to their cause. Militants in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State have stepped up their activities in recent weeks, resulting in large-scale casualties. These bloody victories against increasingly embattled local authorities, experts say, are being broadcast on social media as a means of promotion as well as intimidation. The accounts, affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Boko Haram movement, promote anti-Western sermons by radical clergy, as well as "hosting live TikTok shows — spreading propaganda, justifying their violence and threatening anyone who dares speak against them.” (Punch Nigeria, May 16, 2025)

META CLEANS HOUSE
Social media giant Meta, meanwhile, is working to disrupt influence operations being operated by China and Iran, as well as an unlikely third source: Romania. The company's most recent "adversarial threat report," released in late May, documents "coordinated inauthentic behavior" originating from Beijing, Tehran and Bucharest. The Chinese influence network identified and shut down by Meta "targeted Myanmar, Taiwan, and Japan"; the Iranian one "targeted Azeri-speaking audiences in both Azerbaijan and Turkey"; the Romanian influence network, meanwhile, focused inward, on Romanian domestic audiences, utilizing Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram, as well as YouTube, X and TikTok. (Meta, May 29, 2025)