Graphika In The News: Newsweek Features Graphika Report On China Tariffs

Graphika's Tariff Tirade report is the subject of a Newsweek article looking at how China's online army is helping Beijng fight the ongoing battle over tariffs with the United States.

Citing Graphika's deep dive, the article summarizes that Graphika "says it has uncovered an operation involving over 1,000 fake accounts working to shape online discourse surrounding the United States-China trade war in Beijing's favor."

It highlighted Graphika's conclusion which stated that "we assess that the network operator(s) were very likely aligned with the interests of China."

Newsweek wrote that the activity identified by Graphika's team "included using fake personas purporting to be users in the U.S. and other countries, stealing content from authentic users, and the coordinated amplification of hashtags and media articles" and that suspected accounts in the network were reportedly easy to spot due to their coordinated and inauthentic behaviors.

Behaviors detailed by the outlet included default usernames in a format given to new accounts with long sequences of random numbers as accounts containing self-reported locations with easy to spot errors.

Looking ahead, Newsweek noted Graphika's expectation that influence operations such as the one explored in the Tariffs Tirade report will continue seeking to shape online perceptions of U.S. trade policy.

Graphika delivers continuous insights into evolving online threats and narratives -- including those tracked through our Chinese State Influence Feed. Subscribers receive ongoing monitoring of the narratives promoted and tactics used by Chinese state actors, as well as the communities engaging with them, across a wide range of social platforms and online sources.

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