So TikTok might be connected, in one way or another, to the CCP; so what? Well, if you’re still trying to understand why there has been so much talk about TikTok’s potential linkage to the Chinese Government and why every Western power now wants to ban the app, this could help explain why – Google quarterly publishes its Threat Analysis Group (TAG) Bulletin, which provides an overview of all the malicious activity that it has detected and blocked across its platforms.

Channel Cut

Google’s latest TAG Bulletin has been mostly straightforward. Q1 TAG 2023 says that there are:

  • The termination of 87 YouTube channels as part of an investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Russia.

  • The removal of 40 YouTube channels as part of an investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iran.

  • The canceling of 1,088 YouTube channels as part of an investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Azerbaijan.

It’s all rather logical if you look at it. However, on that last part specifically:

“We terminated 6,285 YouTube channels and 52 Blogger blogs as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels and blogs mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and U.S. foreign affairs.”

Each time, there are thousands of YouTube channels removed that are linked to influence operations coming out of China, which is part of a broader investigation into a larger network called ‘Dragonbridge’, which looks to spread pro-China propaganda through Western Social Media channels. 2022 alone had Google disrupting over 50,000 instances of Dragonbridge activity across YouTube, Blogger, and AdSense. It has also claimed to have terminated 100,000 Dragonbridge accounts in total.

Do note that these are entire accounts and channels, not just individual posts and videos, which shows just how massive the scale of this operation is. Google is in for a tough battle ahead, especially as it looks to cleanse the web of these operations.

The Wrap

The whole concept is that if Chinese influence operations are targeting Western social networks, then they’re also likely using Chinese-owned apps to gain exposure in the West. The whole Ukrainian conflict backed with Chinese support doesn’t help TikTok’s case a bit.

Though TikTok’s potential strong linkage to the CCP isn’t the only reason, considering the scale of Google’s effort, it constitutes a large part of it. Just think of it this way, if they’ve already done it tens of thousands of times using other apps, what makes TikTok – the most popular app in the world – any different?

Sources

http://bit.ly/3mn3l07