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class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.39175257732\">\n<p> Graphika report finds the Chinese-linked group has been creating American personas online and spreading content designed to denigrate both parties and candidates. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg 3746w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=505,337 505w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.jpg?resize=1264,843 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px\"><figcaption> US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. Harris was among multiple politicians denigrated by the Chinese-linked group Spamouflage. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS \/ AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"75.720663265306\"><body readability=\"152.37664366619\"><\/p>\n<p>A prolific disinformation group linked to the Chinese government has stepped up its efforts to impersonate Americans this year in an attempt to degrade and diminish U.S. politicians and institutions in the eyes of voters.<\/p>\n<p>Spamouflage \u2014 also known as Dragonbridge, Taizi Flood and Empire Dragon \u2014 produces high-volumes of spammy, inauthentic content online in an effort to influence political and public opinion in targeted countries. While typically not focused on elections or candidates in the U.S., Graphika researchers say that since mid-2023, associated accounts are increasingly mimicking American voters and criticizing politicians and candidates.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"http:\/\/graphika.com\/the-americans\">report<\/a> released Tuesday, Graphika identified a few accounts \u2014 15 on X, one on TikTok, one on Instagram and one YouTube channel \u2014 using AI-generated profile pictures, patriotic imagery and American identities to pose as disaffected U.S. voters. Much of the content aimed to undermine U.S. politics by depicting it as corrupt. The accounts highlighted divisive topics like the war in Gaza, homelessness, gun control and racial inequality as examples of how the U.S. political system had failed, intending to discourage voter turnout. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shows that Chinese influence operations targeting the U.S. are evolving and they\u2019re engaging in these more advanced, deceptive behaviors,\u201d Jack Stubbs, Graphika\u2019s chief intelligence officer, told CyberScoop. \u201cAnd it shows that they are directly targeting these organic but really sensitive social myths as part of their effort to disrupt and influence the way Americans talk about politics and domestic social issues ahead of an important election.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates.png?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Graphika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In some cases, the accounts posted messages, imagery and videos that targeted specific candidates, such as Kamala Harris or Joe Biden. They also amplified anti-Democratic Party content shared by authentic conservative accounts.<\/p>\n<p>While the content sometimes leaned into pro-Donald Trump or conservative-aligned messaging, they also at times criticized the former president. According to the report, these accounts mostly \u201cdid not explicitly assume or reference a MAGA identity.\u201d Graphika believes the goal of the campaign was \u201cto exacerbate U.S. social divisions and portray the U.S. as a declining global power with weak leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-1.png?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Graphika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That conclusion is in line with how U.S. intelligence officials have described Chinese-led information operations targeting the 2024 elections. In <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump\/\">a July briefing with reporters<\/a>, officials at the Foreign Malign Influence Center, a unit within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/lawmakers-fret-over-who-will-report-foreign-election-interference\/\">responsible<\/a> for notifying the public about foreign attempts to interfere in U.S. elections, said China was moving \u201ccautiously\u201d with regard to this U.S. election cycle, with leaders in Beijing believing that no matter which party or presidential candidate wins, the U.S. is likely to continue its policies confronting China on the world stage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cRight now, our assessment is that China doesn\u2019t perceive a benefit in supporting either candidate and either party,\u201d the ODNI official said.<\/p>\n<p>Intelligence officials also said they had observed signs that foreign governments were \u201cgetting better at hiding their hand\u201d and masking their involvement in online influence operations, outsourcing the work to third-party commercial firms and finding new ways to launder their propaganda through American citizens.<\/p>\n<p>That includes at least one instance where the People\u2019s Republic of China has \u201ccollaborated with a China-based technology company to enhance the PRC\u2019s covert influence operations, including to more efficiently create content that also connects with local audiences,\u201d an ODNI official said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-deep-involvement-shallow-impact\"><strong>Deep involvement, shallow impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Like most Spamouflage campaigns, this one was largely ineffective at generating organic engagement from U.S. audiences on social media platforms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s part of a larger pattern observed by experts and researchers around the lack of success Spamouflage has had breaking through with target audiences, despite dedicating significant time and resources to their online operations over the past five years.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Graphika, <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/after-a-sleepy-primary-season-russia-enters-2024-u-s-election-fray\/\">Microsoft<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t39.8562-6\/10000000_878173163681285_2523028760863660247_n.pdf?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=b8d81d&_nc_ohc=WmuxQPArNnUQ7kNvgFtkwKx&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=00_AYC9L22x2c1DDeY8GfkxKnVOb_MQ4m9qSVF6HqBt4c0WdQ&oe=66D7E708\"> Meta<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/threat-analysis-group\/google-disrupted-dragonbridge-activity-q1-2024\/\">Google<\/a>, the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.isdglobal.org\/digital_dispatches\/pro-ccp-network-spamouflage-weaponizes-gaza-conflict-to-spread-anti-us-sentiment\/\"> Institute for Strategic Dialogue<\/a> and other entities have reported extensively on Spamouflage operations targeting audiences in the U.S., Europe, Taiwan and other countries over the past year. Virtually all of them found that the group\u2019s posts appear to get little organic engagement on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Graphika noted this account cluster is an improvement over Spamouflage\u2019s usual from the low-quality, high-volume output, , yet operators continue to struggle with language and cultural nuances. . Posts often include awkward grammar and sentence structures, or overt references like \u201c#American,\u201d which likely attracts more skepticism than organic engagement. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-2.png?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Graphika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One notable exception appears to be a series of videos posted by \u201cThe Harlan Report,\u201d a supposed pro-Trump, pro-MAGA account. It repurposed videos from legitimate news outlets and disparaged Democratic politicians including Biden, Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while overlaying the videos with custom graphics, branding and messaging. The approach appears to mimic the<a href=\"https:\/\/digitalmarketinginstitute.com\/blog\/how-to-use-short-form-video-in-digital-marketing\"> kind of short-form video content<\/a> that is often used by online marketers and influencer accounts to create viral content for younger online audiences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Operators behind The Harlan Report managed to find real engagement for these videos on X and TikTok, with some receiving over a million views.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-3.png?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Graphika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-4.png?w=640&ssl=1\" alt><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Graphika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stubbs said that in addition to language barriers, Chinese operators behind Spamouflage accounts \u201chave learned to do this in a completely closed information environment.\u201d In many cases, their foundational experience navigating the internet and social media was in the highly restricted, tightly regulated confines of Chinese cyberspace. That experience may leave them ill-prepared when it comes to generating viral or influential content on U.S. and Western social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way the Chinese internet works and is structured is completely different to the way that you and I and other folks in the West are having conversations online,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cAnd so perhaps it\u2019s not as much of a surprise that they struggle to navigate [an open] information environment where people can say, do and \u2014 rightfully \u2014 think what they want to think.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lack of measurable effect is a reminder that the public and media should not rush to overhype the impact of groups like Spamouflage. Even prominent disinformation researchers have expressed concerns about disinformation campaigns potentially being more impactful after they\u2019re exposed and receive widespread coverage than they were as a clandestine operation.<\/p>\n<p>But in a political environment where some lawmakers, pundits and activists have questioned the legitimacy of disinformation research, while others have wildly exaggerated its impact, research on groups like Spamouflage \u201cinforms the public conversation about what is and isn\u2019t happening in terms of foreign influence efforts tied to the U.S. election,\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fear of foreign influence efforts is significant and the threat is real \u2014 it\u2019s a legitimate risk,\u201d he added. \u201cBut we need to make sure that those conversations are rooted in what is happening and what we can prove and analyze objectively, and not risk straying into speculation about what could be happening or might be happening.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.5709090909091\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. 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{"id":5112,"date":"2024-09-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=81601"},"modified":"2024-09-03T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T10:00:00","slug":"disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/09\/03\/disinfo-group-spamouflage-more-aggressively-targeting-u-s-elections-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Disinfo group Spamouflage more aggressively targeting U.S. elections, candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"