Twitter and Facebook suspend hundreds of accounts linked to China spreading 'disinformation' about Hong Kong protests

Twitter suspended 936 accounts, while Facebook deleted multiple pages and groups

Twitter and Facebook have suspended hundreds of accounts that they believe are linked to a state-backed misinformation campaign against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Twitter said that it had suspended 936 accounts originating from inside China linked with the alleged campaign. Facebook also revealed that it had removed several pages and groups involved in similar activity.

In a blog post, Twitter claimed to have found several clusters of accounts coordinating the propagation of images and messages related to the Hong Kong protests. Most of those images were fake and displayed Hong Kong's protesters as violent people, it added.

We have reliable evidence... that this is a coordinated state-backed operation

One post on Facebook also likened the protesters to ISIS terrorists.

"We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change," Twitter stated in its blog post.

"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," it added.

The company also announced its decision to ban state-controlled news groups from advertising on its platform.

After Twitter's announcement, Facebook also said that it had removed five accounts, three groups and seven pages after receiving a tip from Twitter.

"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government," Facebook stated in a post.

In past two months, anger has increased sharply among people in Hong Kong over growing influence of China in the territory.

Over the weekend, about 1.7 million protesters in Hong Kong - out of a total population of 7.5 million - participated in a rally against the Chinese government. Protests in the Chinese territory erupted in June following the introduction of a bill proposing extradition of criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China.

Both Twitter and Facebook currently face increased pressure from governments as well as the public to take strict actions against fake content in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election, when the sites were used by Russian actors to spread inflammatory messages around social issues.

China has not been highly active using Twitter and Facebook to spread disinformation, according to researchers. Both platforms are banned in the country, and people in China instead have to use closely monitored services, like Weibo and WeChat, developed by Chinese firms.