Fake accounts boosted Chinese diplomats on Twitter
An investigation by the Associated Press and Oxford Internet Institute found that an army of fake accounts retweeted Chinese diplomats and state media tens of thousands of times on Twitter, artificially amplifying their messages. The accounts were suspended by Twitter for violating platform rules against manipulation. The Chinese foreign ministry denied using trickery on social media.
- Date it happened
- 2021-05-01
This incident was imported from apnews.com. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.