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Huawei Launches Internal Investigation as Fake Accounts Manipulate Its Social Media. Twitter: Conclusive Evidence may Lead to Permanent Blocking

Chinese telecoms company Huawei has been aggressively exploring overseas markets in recent years, but there have also been concerns about its rise and the manipulation of online media. The research firm Graphika found that during Belgium's reconsideration of its 5G policy, Twitter was flooded with fake accounts claiming to support Huawei. The Financial Times also found that Huawei's top executives, who had only used their Twitter accounts to issue press releases, had an unusually large number of followers. Twitter said that it had taken action against thousands of fake fans of Huawei executives' accounts, while Huawei admitted that the company had not done enough to comply with the rules of the social platform.

An international research firm Graphika released A 33-page study on Thursday saying that a new wave of manipulation on social media comes as the Belgian government revisits its 5G network policy and considers restricting "high-risk vendors" such as Huawei from building the country's 5G systems. At first, at least 14 Twitter accounts posing as telecoms experts, writers and academics shared pro-Huawei posts attacking Belgium's new policy. Graphika analyzed as fake photos and followers believed to be robots, despite their personal photos and occupations.

Source: Stand News #Jan31

https://bit.ly/2NZSwzS

#Huawei #Twitter #fakeaccounts #socialmedia #telecom #ChineseTelecom #Belgium #Graphika
#SocialMedia #Censorship
#LINE Reportedly Forbids the Mentioning of "Tiananmen Incident"

According to a Japanese netizen, the instant text messanger LINE bans the phrase "Tiananmen Incident" in its memo function "Keep".

The Tiananmen Incident generally refers to the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, 1989 in Beijing.

The original post in Twitter was, however, removed.

Source: Internet #Mar23
https://twitter.com/SKYTAN_DAYO/status/1374645384908259331

https://www.facebook.com/100034668333390/posts/492584131907194/?d=n

#June4th #Tiananmen
How China is stoking racial tensions in the West

Footage of a brutal late March attack on a 65-year-old Asian American woman in Manhattan drew widespread outrage on social media. It also made for a productive afternoon for Zhao Lijian. From his Beijing office, the Chinese government spokesman retweeted 20 posts and shared the video 12 times on his official Twitter account. ‘We can’t help but wonder, who will be the next victim? When will it all end?’ he asked his almost 900,000 followers

Source: Spectator #May02

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-china-is-stoking-racial-tensions-in-the-west

#China #CCP #SocialMedia #Twitter #Facebook
#Censorship #ChinessInternet
#SocialMedia account of #China's #Xiaohongshu goes dark after #Tiananmen anniversary post

//A social media account for popular Chinese e-commerce site Xiaohongshu, or "Little Red Book," was unavailable on Sunday, after it issued a post on Friday, the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists in #TiananmenSquare, a highly sensitive date in China.

The Friday post on its account on China's #Weibo said, "Tell me loud: what's the date today?", according to a screenshot seen by Reuters.

That post was quickly deleted by Xiaohongshu, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named given its sensitivity.

The company, backed by Chinese internet giants Alibaba (9988.HK) and Tencent (0700.HK), did not immediately reply to a request for comment...//

Source: Reuters #Jun6

http://www.reuters.com/world/china/social-media-account-chinas-xiaohongshu-goes-dark-after-tiananmen-anniversary-2021-06-06/
#Court #WhiteTerror
Hong Kong Court Rules Pro-democracy Activists Guilty of Inciting and Joining "Unauthorized Assembly" Based on Social Media Posts

#June4 #TiananmenMassacre #Regime #SocialMedia

Source: Stand News; #Dec9

Read more
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#Court #WhiteTerror
Hong Kong Court Rules Pro-democracy Activists Guilty of Inciting and Joining "Unauthorized Assembly" Based on Social Media Posts

In Hong Kong court on December 8, 2021, Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, barrister Chow Hang-tung and former Stand News reporter Gywneth Ho were found guilty of "inciting people" to join the annual June 4 candlelight vigil, commemorating the victims of the 1989 Beijing Tiananmen Massacre, in 2020.

The District Court based its ruling on a few assumptions: The court suspected Lai of participating in the conference outside Victoria Park held by the now-defunct Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, as Lai had chanted slogan with some members of the Alliance. The magistrate accused Lai of being a public figure as his appearance drew public attention to the unauthorized assembly. He needs not use words of incitement to intend to incite others.

The judge accused Chow, the then vice-chairperson of the Alliance, of writing a Facebook post "See you tonight" with “an implicit intention of asking people to join her in Victoria Park”.

The judge also presumed Ho that she had participated in so-called 'unauthorized assembly", as she uploaded a photo with a white flower and a white candle on her Facebook page.

#June4 #TiananmenMassacre #Regime #SocialMedia

Source: Stand News #Dec9
https://thestandnews.page.link/Hc5npuPa2ipPZ4g59
#Regime #WhiteTerror
HK Government Arrest at least 10 Civilians for 'Inciting'
#BlankVotes in “Patriots-only” #LegCoElection

As of December 16, 2021, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (#ICAC) has arrested a total of 10 civilians suspected of "inciting" others not to vote, or to cast invalid votes.

The latest two civilians were arrested and accused of sharing a social media post by democrat and former lawmaker #TedHui, who is in self-imposed exile in Australia. In the post, Hui called for Hongkongers to cast blank votes in the upcoming “patriots only” legislative election as a form of “silent protest.”

Responding to the arrest, Hui wrote on his Facebook page that “I’m confident and I believe, HongKongers, who know the true meaning of ‘#BeWater’, would know what to do on election day.”

This time, Hui added a prominent disclaimer to this facebook post, which wrote “the tyranny has been making rampant arrests. Avoid public dissemination, but please share the post privately.”

Source: Inmediahk.net; #Dec16
https://bit.ly/3Fd6nZ2

#Elections #CCP #LegCo #Protest #SocialMedia #Censorship
#Propaganda #CCP
Buying Influence: How China Manipulates
#Facebook and #Twitter

//...a new set of documents reviewed by The New York Times reveals in stark detail how Chinese officials tap private businesses to generate content on demand, draw followers, track critics and provide other services for information campaigns. That operation increasingly plays out on international platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which the Chinese government blocks at home.

The documents, which were part of a request for bids from contractors, offer a rare glimpse into how China’s vast bureaucracy works to spread propaganda and to sculpt opinion on global social media. They were taken offline after The Times contacted the Chinese government about them...

A separate document reviewed by The Times shows that the same local branch of Shanghai police purchased video-making services from a different company in November. The police asked the supplier to provide at least 20 videos a month and to distribute those on domestic and overseas social media. The document referred to the task as original video production that would be used to fight the “battle of public opinion.”

Earlier this year, a New York Times and ProPublica analysis showed howthousands of videos portraying members of the Uyghur ethnic minority living happy and free lives were a key part of an information campaign that Twitter ultimately attributed to the Chinese Communist Party...

Work like what Shanghai Cloud Link pitched is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Local governments and police across China have put out similar requests for services to influence overseas social media, but often in vague terms. Occasionally, specifics are revealed.

In 2017, for instance, the police in Inner Mongolia purchased software that allowed government trolls to post directly to multiple social media sites, inside and outside of China, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

In another case, a contractor had downloaded hundreds of access credentials for Facebook’s public feed, allowing it to collect data about who commented on which posts and when.//

Read the full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/20/technology/china-facebook-twitter-influence-manipulation.htmlb

Source: New York Times #Dec20

#Manipulation #PublicOpinionManagement #SocialMedia #Meta #Disinformation #MadeinChina #CCPRules
#PoliceState
Hong Kong Pro-democracy activist arrested again for posting on Facebook while on bail

#OwenChow Ka-sing, on bail pending his subversion trial, was arrested when he reported back to Police Station on January 12, 2022.

Chow was told he had violated the bail conditions for making a remark on his Facebook regarding the Legislative Council election took place in December in Hong Kong.

On December 19, 2021 (the day set for the Legislative Council election in Hong Kong), Chow shared two quotes on his Facebook page.

The first one came from #ChrisTang, the Secretary for Security which stated "there could be local lone-wolf terrorist attack on election day".

The other one was from a police hotline operator, "If you are frightened, stay home." The quote was captured on July 21, 2019 when hundreds of citizens called police station in Yuen Long for their assistance when pro-democracy protesters were brutally attacked by white-clad local gangsters.

Along with these two quotes, Chow made a small remark that read, "you told me to stay home when being frightened."

Owen Chow is among the 47 democrats being arrested in January 2021 on suspicion of conspiring to subvert state power for their involvement in a legislative council primary election.

Chow was granted bail in June 2021.

Source: Inmediahk; #Jan12
https://bit.ly/3ti1bA3

#Arrest #SocialMedia #LegCoElection #YuenLong721 #StayHome
"Let's Say We're Japanese": Chinese in #Ukraine Fear Retribution after Insulting Posts from #ChineseNetizens

As Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine, numerous Chinese netizens made posts in support of Russia. Some posts even sarcastically said, "beautiful ladies of Ukraine, come to China".

These posts have drawn the ire of the Ukrainian public, according to a video by a Chinese student who said he was living in Ukraine. "They're a bit emotional about this," he said. Chinese living in Kyiv have begun telling others that they're Japanese; "We don't even dare to call ourselves Chinese anymore."

He called on China's "keyboard warriors" to show restraint, and stop offending the Ukrainians.

The student quoted posts made by Chinese netizens, such as: "Good for Ukraine to have a war; the more deaths the better. This way I could have an Ukrainian mistress." Local media have reported about these posts, complete with translations; "basically, all Ukrainians know."

In shelters, locals would ask Chinese students like himself about the posts, and whether Chinese people are really like this. As a result, many of them don't dare to take shelter in the metro stations with other Ukrainians.

"Give us a little chance to survive," he implored his audience in China. He said that when Ukrainians in Kyiv asked Chinese citizens where they are from, "We say we're Japanese. We don't even dare to call ourselves Chinese anymore, all thanks to you. Do you need a wife that badly? You've lost your humanity. So many of them are dying in the war; how dare you say "good for them" because you might get an Ukrainian wife."

With a sigh, he concluded: "If Chinese people here get beaten or shot to death, it will be thanks to you keyboard warriors."

Since Friday, Feb 25, 2022, China's social media giants #Weibo, #WeChat, and #TikTok have begun censoring accounts that made such offensive remarks. Weibo announced that they processed 542 such posts, and deducted social credit scores of 74 accounts. Tiktok said that it had processed 6,400 videos that have violated rules, and terminated 1,620 live streams.

Source: In-Media HK #Feb27
https://bit.ly/3IDPdFG

#RussiaInvasion #Ukraine #China #LittlePink #SocialMedia
#Racism
Chinese man held over #racist videos and claims his aims to spread Chinese culture

A Chinese filmmaker wanted by Malawi as part of an investigation into allegations of racism and child exploitation has been arrested.

#LuKe was a #Malawi resident when he was exposed by #BBC #AfricaEye, which reported he had used local children to film personalised greetings videos, some of which included racist content.

These videos can be bought for up to $70 (£55) on Chinese social media and internet platforms.

Lu Ke denied making derogatory videos.

He said he made his videos in order to spread Chinese culture to the local community.
In one of the videos seen by the BBC, a group of young children is made to chant - in Chinese - "I'm a black monster. My IQ is low", clearly unaware of what they are saying.//

Read the full article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61862619

Source: BBC #Jun21

#ChineseInternet #SocialMedia #Weibo #Weixin #Africa #ChineseinAfrica
Former Student Union President Arrested for Sharing Post in Social Media

In Hong Kong, former president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong student union Owen Au Cheuk-hei was arrested by officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). He was accused for sharing a post on social media urging people to cast a blank vote in the Legislative Council (LegCo) election in 2021.

In response to an inquiry from Hong Kong In-Media, the ICAC confirmed the arrest of a person on July 12, 2022 for sharing a post on social media, allegedly inciting others to cast blank votes or not to vote in the 2021 Legislative Council general election, breaching section 27A of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

Source: Hong Kong In-media (#Jul12)

#CUHK #StudentUnion #SocialMedia #ICAC #LegCo #Election #FreedomOfSpeech #PoliticalPrisoner #Censorship

https://bit.ly/3OZ23lm