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As the US presidential election approaches, experts are sounding the alarm on attempts by Iranian and Chinese actors to sway American public opinion through sophisticated social media manipulation tactics.
These actors are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to craft targeted messages aimed at influencing voters, according to a report by Nikkei Asia. A key example is the website Nio Thinker, which publishes content critical of Republican candidate Donald Trump, featuring unusual language indicative of manipulation efforts. Nio Thinker publishes articles that feature unusual language, including phrases like "raving mad litigosaur" and "opioid-filled elephant," indicating sophisticated manipulation efforts. Initially appearing as a liberal US platform, Nio Thinker was revealed by a Microsoft report in August to be part of an Iranian-orchestrated influence campaign. The site hosts a piece offering a pro-Palestinian stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict while criticising Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate challenging Trump. The article reads, "If the party's presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, does not change her policy on Israel, I will not be casting a ballot for her." In July, Facebook's parent company Meta published a report detailing Iranian attempts to interfere in the US election. According to the report, fraudulent accounts posing as tech support workers used phishing attacks via WhatsApp to steal information, reported Nikkei Asia. Additionally, OpenAI, the US startup behind ChatGPT, has blocked social media accounts linked to Iranian threat actors who were utilising its generative AI platform to produce social media posts. The US has faced numerous external threats from influence operations since 2017, with Meta recording 39 campaigns originating from Russia, 30 from Iran, and 11 from China. A notable case of potential Chinese interference involved a suspended X (formerly Twitter) account operated by a 43-year-old Los Angeles resident named Ben Affleck posing as a Trump supporter. The account, which once garnered nearly 8,000 followers, posted, "Liberals have made this country the laughing stock of the world. Get out and vote for Trump 2024 to save America!" X later suspended the account after determining it was a fraudulent "spamouflage" account operated by Chinese actors. Such activities are reportedly linked to the Chinese government and have been active since 2017, using fake accounts to influence social media discussions. This manipulation mirrors past interference efforts, such as the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the British consulting firm misused data from 87 million Facebook accounts to shape voter perceptions during that election. (ANI)
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