China is meddling with American elections in three states while also smearing Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, according to Microsoft.
A report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said China is targeting three Republicans – Reps. Barry Moore of Alabama, Michael McCaul of Texas as well as Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – all of whom are up for election next month. Rubio is also being targeted, though he is not on the ballot.
“Chinese influence operations have focused on down-ballot Republican candidates and members of Congress that advocate for anti-Chinese policies,” Microsoft said in its report.
“Actors have parroted antisemitic messages, amplified accusations of corruption, and promoted opposition candidates. While not always resulting in high levels of engagement, these efforts demonstrate China’s sustained attempts influence U.S. politics across the board,” the report said.
“History has shown foreign actors’ ability to rapidly distribute deceptive content can significantly impact public perception and electoral outcomes. With a particular focus on the 48 hours before and after Election Day, voters, government institutions, candidates, and parties must remain vigilant against deceptive and suspicious activity online,” Microsoft warned, noting that Russia and Iran are also using social media to impact Americans’ emotions at election time.
“During times of heightened emotion, conflict, and competition, manipulated images, audio, and video often travel further and faster across audiences than during an average news cycle. Foreign actors have proven nimble and capable of inserting deceptive content and distributing it rapidly during these moments,” Microsoft warned.
According to Reuters, the Chinese group attacking Republicans is called Taizi Flood, which is linked to China’s Ministry of Public Security
A representative of China’s embassy denied China was fishing in America’s troubled political waters.
China “has no intention and will not interfere in the U.S. election” and that such claims are “full of malicious speculations,” the representative said.
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Bots attacked Moore for supporting Israel, claimed Rubio was part of a corruption plot, accused McCaul of insider trading and boosted Blackburn’s opponent.
“We know that the CCP is anti-Semitic, so it isn’t surprising that they are targeting me and other politicians who support Israel to try to sow division in advance of the most important election in our lifetime,” Moore said.
A China-linked account on X called Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) “a Jewish dog” and claimed he won his primary because of “the bloody Jewish consortium,” among other derogatory tropes.
— Eddie Du (@Edourdoo) October 11, 2024
“China has made it clear they will use every weapon in their arsenal, including offensive cyber capabilities, to try and destroy democracy across the world,” he said
Rubio said in a statement that he China’s goal was to “shape American opinion on critical issues and target specific candidates, especially those they view as anti-China.”
Communist China’s threats against me are nothing new, and it’s no wonder they would try and target me again.⁰⁰Nothing will deter me from the mission – breaking China to save America. pic.twitter.com/RFXBgOpkTx
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) October 23, 2024
Jack Stubbs, chief intelligence officer of Graphika, which tracks cyber actors, said China wants to meddle to sow discord, according to The Associated Press.
“One of the world’s largest covert online influence operations — an operation run by Chinese state actors — has become more aggressive in its efforts to infiltrate and to sway U.S. political conversations ahead of the election,” he said.
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