A U. S. intelligence report released Monday says China is beefing up its covert influence operations and possibly trying to influence this year’s U. S. election, raising “increasing efforts” to exploit perceived social divisions on social media.
The 41-page annual risk assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says China could try to influence the 2024 election “because of its preference to set aside grievances against China and magnify U. S. social divisions. “
The report notes that even if China imposes limits on such operations, Americans who are not under Beijing’s direct supervision may simply try to influence the election to be in line with China’s goals.
The ODNI said accounts on TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, which were run through a PRC propaganda arm “allegedly targeted applicants from any of the political parties” in the 2022 midterm cycle.
The report does not detail any conclusions about TikTok or cite a source, however, Forbes reported in 2022 that TikTok accounts run through Chinese state media posted videos critical of the 2022 U. S. political candidates (Republicans in the primaries, but Democrats) without specifying what they were. . the paintings of a foreign government.
U. S. intelligence agencies have long warned that foreign governments could simply use social media to influence the final results of U. S. elections. After the 2016 race, several investigations indicated that Russia had carried out an influence crusade designed to gain advantages over then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, adding through crusades on Kremlin-backed social media. Four years later, intelligence officials said Russia, China and Iran were going to interfere in the 2020 race.
Previous efforts by foreign actors to influence U. S. elections are said to have spread to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, but TikTok is under increasing scrutiny, in part because of its Beijing-founded parent company, ByteDance. TikTok executives have continually denied that the app has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and lawmakers press it on national security and privacy grounds. At a Senate hearing in 2022, lawmakers grilled TikTok about Chinese propaganda actors who allegedly went on the meddling app in that year’s midterm elections, and asked TikTok’s former chief operating officer, Vanessa Pappas. whether there were members of the Chinese Communist Party hired through TikTok or ByteDance. Pappas said that no one who makes strategic decisions at TikTok is a member of the Communist Party, noting that the company does not vet its workers based on their political affiliations.
The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that would remove TikTok, or any other social network allegedly controlled through a foreign adversary, from app retail outlets, unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells TikTok within six months.
“We took steps to oppose deceptive behavior, adding covert networks of influence around the world, and we’ve been transparent in reporting them publicly,” TikTok spokesperson Jamie Favazza told Forbes. “TikTok has protected our platform in more than 150 elections around the world and continues to do so. Work with election commissions, experts, and fact-checkers to protect our network during this historic election year.
TikTok, which tags state-affiliated media outlets on its app, says it has taken steps to oppose covert influences from networks operating abroad. The app learned about and removed similar content from 636 accounts run from China that amplified pro-China narratives, according to corporate data.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday opposed banning TikTok, saying that while he believes TikTok poses a national security risk, a ban on the app would serve to further popularize Facebook, which he considers “an enemy of the people. “
Trump Says TikTok Ban Could Make Facebook Bigger, Calls Meta an ‘Enemy of the People’ (Forbes)
No TikTok Exec Has Ties to Chinese Communist Party, COO Says at Stormy Senate Hearing (Forbes)