Real Interference
National media exclusively pointed at disinformation from Russian sources while the Chinese government influences millions of followers by editorializing U.S. politics using TikTok
Russian Disinformation Distraction
The focus of the national media has almost been exclusively pointed at disinformation from Russian sources over the past six years. The narrative claims that an obscure disinformation campaign has been run by Russian operatives and this campaign has flooded the Internet with many false stories in seven languages and across 300 social media platforms virtually undetected. The press claims that they don't know whether it was run by the government, or associated with the government, or a group who wanted to support the government, yet they proclaim the tone and context makes it clear that this is an operation supporting the Russian government designed to attack and undermine its critics.
China Influence on American Elections
On TikTok many of the videos have attacked specific U.S. politicians before the midterm elections and pushed divisive social issues, without clear labels disclosing they were coming from state-controlled media. TikTok accounts run by the propaganda arm of the Chinese government have accumulated millions of followers and tens of millions of views, many of them on videos editorializing about U.S. politics without clear disclosure that they were created and posted by the Chinese government. The accounts posting are managed by MediaLinks TV, a registered foreign agent and Washington D.C.-based outpost of the main Chinese Communist Party television news, China Central Television.
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