Google had just published its latest TAG Bulletin Report, providing an overview of all coordinated influence operations detected by its team and shut down across apps within Q1 of 2022. So far, results have been steady, with 3 YouTube channels shut down concerning criticism of Sundanese President Omar al-Bashir, an Adsense account linked to influence operations in Turkey, and 42 YouTube channels and 2 Ad accounts terminated as part of investigations into Iraqi influence operations.

Already sounds like a handful, yes? But then there’s this:

“We terminated 4361 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels 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. These findings are consistent with our previous reports.”

Get Down!

Imagine, 4300+ channels – not videos, but ENTIRE CHANNELS – shut down in a single month. In the simplest of words, that’s a crap ton of content. However, YouTube notes that this is, in fact, in line with previous TAG reports, with its most recent one outlining the following removals:

  • 5,460 YouTube channels in December, also linked to coordinated influence operations linked to China.

  • 15,368 Chinese YouTube channels in November.

  • 3,311 YouTube channels in October.

  • 1,217 in September.

  • 1,196 in August.

  • 850 in July.

Unsurprisingly, all of these are connected to the same investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. All of them also share the same description as belonging to “spammy content” around entertainment, with certain notes on US/China affairs, equating to around 31,000 YouTube channels removed over 7 months.

So, the big question is, “what’s the deal with all this spammy content?” What are all these Chinese influence operations looking to achieve? Well, based on Google’s description, the main purpose of these efforts is to basically build an audience on YouTube which it could then indoctrinate into being more pro-China. Think of it as very subtle brainwashing, with the CCP gently nudging viewers towards more ‘China-friendly’ outlooks from the shadows. Such has been China’s general MO with its information operations. On the forum platform Quora, for example, there are many instances of people asking questions about China, only to encounter mostly positive replies.

The Wrap

That seems to be the same MO these Chinese-originated groups attempt to use on YouTube, seeking to build an on-platform audience which it could later ‘subvert’ in incognito to provide support for more pro-China propaganda. All in all, it’s a pretty significant push on China’s end, noting that it sees YouTube as a powerful vector for influence.

Unfortunately for China, however, YouTube’s prestige and capacity also means that it’s more capable and less susceptible to such shady operations. This further underlines the importance of proactive action on the side of social platforms to prevent misuse and abuse by any organization.

You can view the full TAG report here.

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Sources 

https://bit.ly/3sApCYG