Chinese websites are posing as local news outlets to disseminate pro-Beijing content, according to a report by Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity research lab at the University of Toronto.
Citizen Lab's analysis comes as China's increasing use of official state media and unofficial channels to spread Beijing's messaging around the globe attracts wider scrutiny. In recent months, social media giants like Facebook have shut down a network of accounts running influence operations operating out of China.
"The campaign is an example of a sprawling influence operation serving both financial and political interests, and in alignment with Beijing's political agenda," Citizen Lab said in a report on Wednesday.
Citizen Lab has called the campaign "Paperwall," drawing attention to a network of 123 websites operated from China, which pose as local news outlets in thirty countries across Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Newsweek contacted China's embassy in Washington for comment but hadn't received a reply by publication time.
The campaign has been attributed to Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media Co., Ltd., also known as Haimai, a PR firm in China, based on Citizen Lab's analysis of the connection between the company's digital infrastructure and the Paperwall.
In November 2023, South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), identified 38 fake Korean-language news websites that were suspected of ties to Haimai and Haixun, two public relations firms based in China.
NIS had alleged that the network of fake news websites with links to China had tried to influence public opinion by spreading anti-U.S. and pro-China views.
In Europe, websites originating from China use regional reference names such as "Eiffel" or "Provence" for French language websites or "Viking" for websites targeting Norway, Citizen Lab said.
Italian newspaper Il Foglio discovered a similar influence operation in October 2023 linked to a network of websites that didn't correspond to a real newsroom in Italy.
Citizen Lab further investigated the claims by Il Foglio and substantiated that all of the websites that are part of the network were being hosted on the Tencent Cloud IP address of a China-based company.
"These findings confirm the increasingly important role private firms play in the realm of digital influence operations and the propensity of the Chinese government to make use of them," Citizen Lab said.
In August 2023, Meta, Facebook's parent company, officially linked a foreign influence campaign called "spamouflage" to China, which spread pro-China views while also using other platforms such as Medium, X (formerly known as Twitter), Reddit, YouTube, Vimeo and Soundcloud.
"This network originated in China and targeted many regions around the world, including Taiwan, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and global Chinese-speaking audiences," Meta said.
Wang Wenbin, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, refuted Meta's allegations at the time.
"Some people and institutions have launched one "rumor campaign" after another against China on social media platforms and spread a tremendous amount of disinformation about China," Wang said during a daily press briefing last year.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
