Graphika In The News: Spamouflage and Spain

Graphika has observed the Chinese state-linked operation known as Spamouflage directly calling for the overthrow of a foreign government for the very first time.

That newsmaking revelation from a Graphika report focusing on Chinese State Influence was recently featured in stories from Reuters and Politico.

In the report, Graphika shared that Chinese covert influence operations have impersonated human rights organizations critical of Beijing, almost certainly in an effort to discredit their activities and disrupt domestic political conversations in Western countries.

The state-linked Spamouflage operation, for instance, repeatedly targeted the Spain-based non-profit Safeguard Defenders and in January 2025 posed as the organization to spread online calls for the Spanish government to be overthrown in response to deadly floods in Valencia.

Politico cited Graphika's work and noted that "the imposter accounts purported to show both English and Spanish content critical of the Madrid government and of Valencia Governor Carlos Mazon after devastating floods that killed over 200 people."

Reuters reported that, "Graphika said it detected dozens of accounts across social media platforms masquerading as Safeguard Defenders to seed videos and images criticising the handling of the floods by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government and by the Valencia regional government."

Graphika’s platform delivers ongoing insights about evolving online threats and narratives like these through our Chinese State Influence Feed. Subscribers find constant monitoring on the narratives advanced and tactics deployed by Chinese state actors and the communities that engage with them, across a variety of social platforms and online sources.