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China has interfered in the 2024 United States elections through propaganda and disinformation campaigns linked to its Spamouflage operation. [1] The efforts come amidst larger foreign interference in the 2024 United States elections.
In March 2021, the National Intelligence Council released a report that found China "considered but did not deploy" influence efforts in 2020. [2] A declassified U.S. intelligence assessment in 2023 found with "high confidence" that China, Russia, Iran and Cuba attempted to influence the 2022 midterms. It found that China had tacitly approved "efforts to try to influence a handful of midterm races involving members of both US political parties" and "portray the US democratic model as chaotic, ineffective, and unrepresentative". The U.S. intelligence report found that China had used images generated by artificial intelligence to mimic Americans online and provoke discussion on divisive social issues, and that they believed they would face less scrutiny during the midterms and that U.S. retaliation would be lower. [3] Since 2020, senior Chinese intelligence officials had issued directives to "intensify efforts to influence US policy and public opinion in China's favor" and "magnify US societal divisions". [4] In January 2024, the FBI and Justice Department issued a court order to address Chinese hacking and infiltration of key U.S. infrastructure in the transportation and maritime sectors. [5]
During APEC United States 2023, Joe Biden and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping met in a separate summit on November 15 where Xi told Biden China would not interfere in the 2024 presidential election after being asked by Biden. This assurance was given again by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to Biden's national security advisor Jake Sullivan on the weekend of January 26-27 during a meeting in Bangkok after Sullivan brought up the topic. CNN reported in January 2024 that the topic had repeatedly come up during senior-level meetings between the two nations. The meetings came following a historic low in Sino-American relations after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the U.S. military after traversing the continental United States in February 2023. [4]
U.S. intelligence agencies have described Chinese interference as being more aggressive by September but overall cautious and nuanced, not targeting any particular candidate, but focusing on issues important to Beijing such as Taiwan, and "undermining confidence in elections, voting, and the U.S. in general." [1] [6] However, China has specifically denigrated President Biden using fake accounts. [7] According to The Washington Post , a senior official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said China is "not attempting to influence the presidential race, but it is seeking to do so in state-level and regional races" as they did during the 2022 midterms. [8] Officials from the ODNI and FBI have outlined China's use of generative artificial intelligence tools and promotion of divisive content focused on drug use, immigration, and abortion to foster anti-Americanism. [9]
As early as April 1, 2024, The New York Times reported that the Chinese government had created fake pro-Trump accounts on social media "promoting conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions and attacking President Biden ahead of the election in November." [7] On April 26, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the U.S. has seen evidence of attempts to “influence and arguably interfere” with the upcoming U.S. elections, despite an earlier commitment from Xi Jinping not to do so. [10] [11] On June 4, President Biden said in an interview that there was evidence of China interfering in the 2024 elections, and that "all the bad guys are rooting for Trump". [2]
Chinese interference has been linked to its Spamouflage operation. Chinese influence operations have involved networks of fake social media users that mimic Americans on social media sites such as X and TikTok in an attempt to manipulate and sway public opinion. In a September 2024 interview with the Associated Press, chief intelligence officer Jack Stubbs of Graphika stated that Chinese covert influence operations had "become more aggressive" in their "efforts to infiltrate and to sway U.S. political conversations ahead of the election". [1] [12] A threat report by Meta stated it detected 11 'coordinated inauthentic behavior' networks linked to China. [12] Microsoft detected attempts by Chinese actors to inflame tensions around campus protests, noting an increased capability to increase divisions and influence election activity. [12]
In August 2024, Cyber security firm CyberCX released a report that uncovered Beijing-based "Green Cicada," one of the largest publicly identified networks and which may feature more than 8,000 accounts on social media platform X, with a suspected intention to interfere with the US elections. [13]
In October 2024, there were further indications of influence attempts by the Chinese Communist Party. Reports indicate there is a focus on races that have the potential to influence U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan. [14]
In 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that China was interfering or had interfered in the 2022 election, stating that they "adhere to the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs" and that "China does not interfere in US elections". [4] In response to a 2024 report by Graphika that outlined China's use of its Spamouflage network to mimic American social media users, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu stated that the findings were "prejudice and malicious speculation" and that "China has no intention and will not interfere" in the election. [1]
Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to advance political, military, or commercial goals. Disinformation is implemented through attacks that "weaponize multiple rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value judgements—to exploit and amplify culture wars and other identity-driven controversies."
Russian espionage in the United States has occurred since at least the Cold War, and likely well before. According to the United States government, by 2007 it had reached Cold War levels.
Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then–Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.
Informatized warfare of China is the implementation of information warfare (IW) within the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and other organizations affiliated or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Laid out in the Chinese Defence White Paper of 2008, informatized warfare includes the utilization of information-based weapons and forces, including battlefield management systems, precision-strike capabilities, and technology-assisted command and control (C4ISR). However, some media and analyst reports also uses the term to describe propaganda and influence operations efforts of the Chinese state.
The Russian government conducted foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. intelligence community, the operation—code named Project Lakhta—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The "hacking and disinformation campaign" to damage Clinton and help Trump became the "core of the scandal known as Russiagate". The 448-page Mueller Report, made public in April 2019, examined over 200 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring any conspiracy or coordination charges against Trump or his associates.
The United States Intelligence Community concluded in early 2018 that the Russian government was continuing the interference it started during the 2016 elections and was attempting to influence the 2018 United States mid-term elections by generating discord through social media. Primaries for candidates of parties began in some states in March and would continue through September. The leaders of intelligence agencies have noted that Russia is spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism.
Social media use in politics refers to the use of online social media platforms in political processes and activities. Political processes and activities include all activities that pertain to the governance of a country or area. This includes political organization, global politics, political corruption, political parties, and political values. The media's primary duty is to present us with information and alert us when events occur. This information may affect what we think and the actions we take. The media can also place pressure on the government to act by signaling a need for intervention or showing that citizens want change
Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections was a matter of concern at the highest level of national security within the United States government, in addition to the computer and social media industries. In 2020, the RAND Corporation was one of the first to release research describing Russia's playbook for interfering in U.S. elections, developed machine-learning tools to detect the interference, and tested strategies to counter Russian interference. In February and August 2020, United States Intelligence Community (USIC) experts warned members of Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in then-President Donald Trump's favor. USIC analysis released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration." The New York Times reported in May 2021 that federal investigators in Brooklyn began a criminal investigation late in the Trump administration into possible efforts by several current and former Ukrainian officials to spread unsubstantiated allegations about corruption by Joe Biden, including whether they had used Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as a channel.
Since 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies have promoted several conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. One such theory seeks to blame Ukraine, instead of Russia, for interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Also among the conspiracy theories are accusations against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and several elements of the right-wing Russia investigation origins counter-narrative. American intelligence believes that Russia engaged in a years long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference, that the Kremlin is the prime mover behind promotion of the fictitious alternative narratives, and that these are harmful to the United States. FBI director Christopher A. Wray stated to ABC News that "We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election" and that "as far as the [2020] election itself goes, we think Russia represents the most significant threat."
Peace Data or PeaceData is a fake news website run by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian outlet connected to the country's government, which publishes in English and Arabic.
The Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF) is a Russian think tank based in Moscow that primarily publishes an online current affairs magazine of the same name. SCF is regarded as an arm of Russian state interests by the United States government. SCF has been characterized as a conservative, pro-Russian propaganda website by U.S. media and others.
The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was vice president of the United States, improperly withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure Ukraine into firing prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company Burisma and to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the Burisma board. As part of efforts by Donald Trump and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump's first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign, and later in an effort to impeach him.
The foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration emphasizes the repair of the United States' alliances, which Biden argues were damaged during the Trump administration. The administration's goal is to restore the United States to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address challenges posed by Russia and China. Both Biden and his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have repeatedly emphasized that no other world power should be able to surpass the United States, either militarily or economically. Biden's foreign policy has been described as having ideological underpinnings in mid-twentieth century liberal internationalism, American exceptionalism, and pragmatism.
Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in many countries. For example, disinformation campaigns led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have been reported in several African countries. Russia, however, denies that it uses disinformation to influence public opinion.
Graphika is an American social network analysis company known for tracking online disinformation. It was established in 2013.
Spamouflage, Dragonbridge, Spamouflage Dragon, or Storm 1376 is an online propaganda and disinformation operation that uses a network of social media accounts to make posts in favor of the Chinese government and harass dissidents and journalists overseas since 2017. Beginning in the early 2020s, Spamouflage accounts also began making posts about American and Taiwanese politics. It is widely believed that the Chinese government is behind the network. Spamouflage has increasingly used generative artificial intelligence for influence operations. The campaign has largely failed to receive views from real users, although the evolution of its tactics has allowed some Spamouflage accounts to see some success in receiving organic engagement.
The Iranian government has interfered in the 2024 United States elections through social media efforts and hacking operations. Iranian interference has come amidst larger foreign interference in the 2024 United States elections. The efforts were identified as an effort to tip the race against former president Donald Trump through propaganda and disinformation campaigns. However, Iranian efforts have also targeted Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with similar attacks, which The New York Times stated suggested "a wider goal of sowing internal discord and discrediting the democratic system in the United States more broadly in the eyes of the world."
The Russian government has interfered in the 2024 United States elections through disinformation and propaganda campaigns aimed at damaging Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and other Democrats while boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump and other candidates who support isolationism and undercutting support for Ukraine aid and NATO. The efforts come amidst larger foreign interference in the 2024 United States elections and follow Russia's previous pattern of spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts and right-wing YouTube channels in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism. On September 4, the Department of Justice indicted members of Tenet Media for having received $9.7 million as part of a covert Russian influence operation to co-opt American right-wing influencers to espouse pro-Russian content and conspiracy theories.
Several nations have interfered in the 2024 United States elections. U.S. intelligence agencies have identified China, Iran, and Russia as the most pressing concerns.
