MicroWaveAug 30, 2023

Chinese Intel Officers Interfered in U.S. Election

https://lemmy.world/post/4131229

Chinese Intel Officers Interfered in U.S. Election - Lemmy.world

China is behind the largest known covert propaganda operation ever identified on Facebook and Instagram, according to a new report by security researchers at Meta. Meta on Tuesday outed the authors of a four-year long influence campaign dubbed “Spamouflage Dragon,” which first appeared in 2019 to spread propaganda about Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. Since then, the campaign has focused on spreading disinformation about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, attacking dissidents and critics abroad, criticizing the United States, and attempting to sow division during the 2022 midterm elections. For years, researchers have speculated that the voluminous Spamouflage Dragon posts were connected to the Chinese government but have been unable to publicly prove a link until now. The link comes courtesy of overlapping content found in both Meta’s report and charges filed against Chinese intelligence operatives back in spring.

Show threadSorchistAug 30, 2023

So apparently they really suck at it? That's kind of hilarious

The trolls have demonstrated a weak command of idiomatic English with articles that, while prolific, often misspell key names or use English and Mandarin interchangeably. Other posts — like a critique of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August 2022 trip to Taiwan — appear long after the events they purported to preview.

At other times, the spammers attempted to push niche and esoteric Chinese propaganda talking points onto unreceptive audiences by piggybacking on clickable search engine optimized headlines. In one case cited by Meta researchers, Spamouflage Dragon trolls filled the replies of social media forum questions like “How do I lose belly fat through weight lifting?” with propaganda articles about “Chinese Police Strengthening International Law Enforcement Cooperation.”

They don't mention what the propagandists push about COVID. The usual line from weirdo propagandists is that COVID is a secret bioweapon and was released from the Wuhan labs intentionally. I assume China wouldn't sign on to that one? Do they just push the scientific consensus, which is that the origin is unknown but is probably natural, and possibly an unintentional lab leak? Or an exaggeration thereof which completely discounts the lab leak theory but still asserts what is most probable -- it's from animals? That's pretty weak sauce for propaganda. Maybe they push some nuance about COVID that only the Chinese government cares about. Or maybe they go buck wild and say it was developed by NATO biolabs in Ukraine.

Show threadNightAuthorAug 30, 2023
Consensus has always been likely lab leak, higher ups were just covering for fauci and his involvement in funding the lab. And others were silenced by the whole “lab leak theory is racist” mob.
Show threaddemletAug 30, 2023

I’ve never understood the resistance to discussing the origins of Covid. It’s pretty important for understanding possible future risks. As far as being racist, I don’t get that either. We have to be able to criticize other nations regardless of who they are. I have a lot of respect for what China has done over the last few decades, it doesn’t mean they might not have screwed up and leaked a deadly disease out of a lab.

The reality is that we’ll probably never know for sure what happened because China blocked anyone else from investigating until long after the fact.

Show threadSimpsonatorAug 30, 2023

The possible origins should be discussed. By experts. What kind of discussion are you looking for? I’m not a bioweapons expert. Are you? What possible conclusion can we come to that actual experts might not have considered?

I just see this idea that everyone’s viewpoint is equivalently valid everywhere and it drives me crazy. This is a scientific question. Real experts study this stuff their entire lives. The one guy with a Ph.D. in Microbiology has an opinion that’s worth more than a million random idiots with a keyboard and internet. Maybe instead of coming to our own conclusions, we listen instead.

Show threaddemletAug 30, 2023
Of course. Again, I just don’t understand the weird polarizing effect even bringing it up causes. By your own reasoning there would be almost nothing most of us average people should even talk about. I find that highly questionable as a blanket statement. We can certainly talk about what we think the experts should be considering without making our own conclusions about it.
Show threadSimpsonator

You totally misunderstood what I suggested. Your statement that we can’t discuss anything proves it.

There are a myriad of things we can discuss. Politics, religion, whether Kirk or Picard was better. None of these are provably right or wrong. However, if someone was dispensing medical advice or legal advice, I would hope you’d talk to a real expert. This is the same. I’m not qualified to determine what is right in regards to Covid’s origin so I listen to the consensus of experts.

Aug 30, 2023 at 10:20pmWeb
Show threaddemletAug 30, 2023
But can we talk about climate change? Because we sure do. We talk about complicated economics topics, social issues, human biology… I just don’t see why the line is drawn at where Covid might have originated.
Show threadSimpsonatorAug 31, 2023

No. We can’t talk about whether climate change is real. There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence proving it’s happening. Where do we draw the line in your world? Do you suffer all the fools who don’t believe in gravity too? How about geocentrism? Flat earthers?

There’s no line at Covid. I’m saying there should be a line at hard sciences and questions that are verifiable. We can discuss whether gravity exists but it’s just wasted breath if neither one of us knows all that much about gravity.

Show threaddemletAug 31, 2023
Fair enough. Climate change was a bad example. Maybe I could have said something like aliens. I’m far from an expert on anything to do with anything related to aliens, but I’m willing to recognize that it’s an open question. Similarly, I’m not really saying we should imagine we have the answer with Covid, I just don’t think there’s anything wrong with recognizing that it’s an open question. In one of my first comments in this thread in fact (I have apparently been talking to multiple people and not always realizing they’re different…), I stated up front that I doubt we’ll ever have an answer. I suppose the point has been belabored quite a bit at this point. I appreciate your insights and that you took the time to share them without getting too… um… Reddity?