X Removes Thousands of CCP-Linked Accounts in Crackdown on Disinformation Campaign Targeting Shen Yun Performing Arts
In a significant move against state-sponsored disinformation, social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, has purged thousands of accounts linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These accounts were reportedly engaged in a coordinated campaign to amplify negative articles about Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company renowned for its vibrant portrayal of 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. The Epoch Times, an international multi-language publication, spearheaded an investigation into the suspicious online activity surrounding articles critical of Shen Yun, ultimately leading to X’s intervention and the removal of the offending accounts.
The investigation revealed a concerted effort to boost the visibility of articles published by The New York Times that targeted Shen Yun. Over eight months, ten such articles appeared in The New York Times, eight of which were translated into Chinese, providing ample fodder for the disinformation campaign. The Epoch Times’ analysis uncovered a network of accounts exhibiting suspicious behavior, including repetitive posting, minimal followers, and exclusive engagement with anti-Shen Yun content. One particular article was artificially amplified to become the "most shared" New York Times piece on X in over a year, a phenomenon cybersecurity expert Rex Lee labeled a “nation-state automated bot attack." The coordinated nature of the campaign, coupled with the inauthentic behavior of the accounts involved, pointed strongly towards a deliberate smear campaign.
Upon receiving The Epoch Times’ findings, X initiated its own investigation. The platform’s internal probe confirmed the suspicious activity and resulted in the suspension of thousands of accounts. Dave Heinzinger, X’s head of media strategy, confirmed the platform’s commitment to combating manipulation and spam, stating that they "take reports like these very seriously and continue to action millions of accounts per week for platform manipulation and spam violations." While X’s initial sweep focused on accounts with minimal followers, The Epoch Times’ continued monitoring identified additional accounts with larger followings displaying similar suspect behavior. These accounts were subsequently reported, leading to further suspensions and restrictions by X, demonstrating the ongoing need for vigilance against such coordinated manipulation efforts.
The revelation of this disinformation campaign underscores the CCP’s growing use of social media to influence public opinion and target critics abroad. Casey Fleming, a senior intelligence and cybersecurity expert, characterizes the CCP’s actions as a "wake-up call" for democratic societies, highlighting the regime’s increasing boldness in its disinformation operations. This incident is not an isolated event but part of a larger pattern of CCP interference in online discourse. Shen Yun, founded by practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted in China since 1999, has been a frequent target of the regime’s disinformation efforts. Both Shen Yun and Falun Gong have exposed human rights abuses perpetrated by the CCP, making them targets of the regime’s attempts to control the narrative.
Whistleblowers with intimate knowledge of the CCP’s internal workings have revealed that Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched a large-scale overseas campaign in 2022 specifically aimed at discrediting Falun Gong. This campaign leverages Western media outlets and social media platforms to disseminate negative narratives and sway public opinion. The whistleblowers further allege that operatives working directly with The New York Times assisted in the reporting against Shen Yun. The New York Times has not responded to requests for comment on these allegations. This alleged collaboration underscores the complex and concerning intersection of media organizations and state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.
The CCP’s exploitation of social media platforms involves a sophisticated blend of automated bots and human operatives, including the infamous “50-cent Army." More sophisticated operations are believed to be directly managed by CCP operatives or even the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The use of artificial intelligence (AI) further amplifies the effectiveness of these campaigns, enabling the creation of vast bot networks capable of generating seemingly authentic profiles complete with usernames, bios, and profile pictures. The Epoch Times found that many of the accounts involved in promoting the anti-Shen Yun articles displayed clear signs of inauthenticity: minimal followers, repetitive posts, engagement limited solely to anti-Falun Gong content, and the use of AI-generated or stolen profile images. This sophisticated approach allows for the rapid dissemination of disinformation and the creation of artificial consensus around specific narratives. The CCP’s documented history of online manipulation includes the “Spamouflage” network, identified by disinformation tracking firm Graphika as interfering in U.S. political discussions and targeting human rights groups critical of the regime. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also dismantled a vast network of CCP-linked accounts in 2023, describing it as the “largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world.” These revelations underscore the pervasive and sophisticated nature of CCP disinformation efforts and the urgent need for increased vigilance and countermeasures.
