- Google crackdown identifies four PR firms infiltrating search results
- ‘Glassbridge’ firms spread Chinese propaganda
- Google removed 1,000 domains form the network
Google’s Threat Intelligence Group has revealed it has blocked over 1,000 sites belonging to a small number of PR firms that spread pro-China propaganda through inauthentic news sites.
The sites posed as local news networks, even publishing authentic localized content alongside state sponsored press releases to deceive readers.
The network, dubbed ‘Glassbridge’, was made up of four companies who bulk-created and operated hundreds of domains which posed as independent news sites. These sites published content which “emphasizes narratives aligned to the political interests of the People’s Republic of China”, said Google.
A new kind of influence campaign
The Glassbridge network used private PR firms to gain plausible deniability and obscured their role in the spreading of coordinated misinformation. The sites violated Google’s policies which prohibit deceptive behavior and require editorial transparency, and will no longer appear in Google News Features and Google Discover.
The four firms, Shanghai Haixun Technology, Times Newswire, Durinbridge, and Shenzhen Bowen media. The most prolific, Shanghai Haixun Technology, was found to be operating over 600 policy-violating domains, all of which have since been removed.
“By posing as independent, and often local news outlets, IO (information operations) actors are able to tailor their content to specific regional audiences and present their narratives as seemingly legitimate news and editorial content,” said Vanessa Molter.
Google believes this is an evolution of previously observed mass produced social media disinformation campaigns, which have targeted western states and US voters in particular, aiming to spread discourse and divide public opinion.
Most of us can spot the social media ‘bot’ accounts with relative ease, and most bots generate very little authentic engagement, which highlights the difficulties states like China, Russia, and Iran have had in producing convincing political content through social media.
Whilst it’s unlikely that foreign actors will abandon social media campaigns, its clear that new tactics are being adopted to try and sew distrust in western political systems and spread favorable narratives for Beijing.