In recent years, China’s social media deception tactics have become much more sophisticated and widespread than ever before due to advancements in machine learning technologies such as Natural Language Processing (NLP). These new methods allow for advanced data mining techniques which can quickly detect key words or phrases related to topics that the government would like to suppress (Hui & Weimann 2020). After identifying these terms, the algorithms can generate thousands of fabricated posts autonomously within minutes which contain carefully crafted messages designed to distract readers away from sensitive subjects.

Often times these generated posts will be disguised as genuine user-generated content in order to avoid detection from traditional censorship tools. For example, some postings may include positive stories about businesses owned by members of the ruling party or praise for current leadership initiatives (Wu et al., 2017). Other postings may feature sensationalized scandalous headlines defaming opposition activists or political opponents in order derail public support for their cause (Hung et al., 2018). Additionally, fabricated posts might even take aim at other countries by sharing false reports meant discredit their governments or policies (Xinhua News Agency 2019).

Although this type of digital misinformation campaign has proven effective in deterring large scale uprisings against its rule; it also comes with certain risks including further alienating citizens through paranoia and distrust towards the government if details regarding its activities become exposed. Nevertheless, China continues its strategic disinformation efforts on social media platforms with little regard for international criticism as it works hard maintain its desired level of control over digital messaging circulating among citizens across mainland China and throughout world (Erman 2019).

References:

Erman T.(2019) How China Uses Social Media Manipulation To Control Public Opinion Abroad Time Magazine Retrieved from https://time.com/5674410/china-social-media-propaganda/.
Hui P K & Weimann G.(2020) The Propaganda Machine: Content Generation Strategies Used By Chinese Authorities On Social Media Networks Computers In Human Behavior Vol 107 pp 1–11 doi 10 1016/j chb 2019 07 037 Hung Y C .et al .(2018 ) Fabricating Digital Crowds : The Use Of Fake Accounts And Prepackaged Contents On Sina Weibo Proceedings Of The ACM On Human Computer Interaction , Volume 2 Issue CSCW Article No 36 18 pages doi 10 1145/3274376 Wu J M .et al .(2017 ) Detecting Government Promotion Campaigns Using Non Parametric Analysis On Alibaba s Taobao Marketplace Proceedings Of The 26th International Conference On World Wide Web Companion , Perth Australia April 3 7 2017 Pages 1333 1343 X IN HUANewsAgency.(2019) “China Calls Out U S Politicians’ Double Standards on Xinjiang”XINHUANewsAgencies Retrieved from http://www1xinhuanetcomcncontentm18e7f9a062305085n26982386shtml