It seems the CIA created fake social media accounts to "troll" the Chinese government

The CIA operation, as noted by Reuters, started back in 2019 and was aimed at causing paranoia in the government of Xi Jinping, increasing the amount of negative news related to him.

To do this, CIA agents allegedly created fake social media accounts and spread rumors, such as Communist Party members illegally hiding earned wealth outside the country. They also criticized initiatives of the Chinese government on these accounts and claimed that the funding program for infrastructure projects in other countries was corrupt.

The CIA did not provide comments, so journalists cannot confirm if the program is still active today. It is reported that it was initiated by Donald Trump and targeted regions in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. The Chinese "Belt and Road" initiative, which provides grants and loans for infrastructure projects in developing countries in these regions, was one of the targets of the CIA program.

State propaganda and the use of bots on social media are not new — Russia has a whole bunch of bot farms that try to influence public opinion, both in Ukraine and in the USA. Last year, Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted to creating a group of fake accounts to interfere in the US elections. Also, in 2023, Rolling Stone wrote that a fake far-right publication was created in China, promoting fake stories to European social media users. Meanwhile, American politicians, seeking to ban TikTok, claim that the Chinese government may use the social media platform for espionage or influencing users.