Creating a realistic fake news story can take just a few hours, and it can quickly spread across the internet. Some netizens have noted that the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the largest AI poisoning organisation in the world. (People News/AI-generated image)
[People News] The methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate international public opinion through fake media are becoming increasingly covert and rampant. A recent investigation revealed that the Chinese Communist Party has established 15 fake news websites in Japan, all of which are still operating normally, disseminating information that is a mix of lies and conspiracy theories in an attempt to manipulate public opinion. Experts warn that these websites may be designed to provide content for generative artificial intelligence (AI) to process, potentially igniting a larger-scale information war in the digital realm.
In February 2024, a report from the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto explicitly identified 123 'Chinese Communist Party fake media websites.' Among the countries affected globally, South Korea has the highest number (17), followed by Japan and Russia, each with 15. The fake media outlets in Japan include 'Fujisan Times,' 'Nikko News,' 'Sendai News,' 'Fukuoka Express,' and 'Tokushima Online.' Although these websites were blacklisted by the Citizen Lab as early as February 2024, they continued to publish false news about Japan, the United States, Russia, South Korea, and other countries until May 1.
According to reports from the Central News Agency, while the majority of the fake news websites discovered in Japan are in Japanese, their expressions are often awkward and grammatically unnatural. It is also common for multiple websites to publish identical articles simultaneously.
For instance, on May 1st, nearly all of the 15 websites published an article titled "This monk became a social media star thanks to his love for computer games," featuring the "Venerable Huayang of Mingjiao Temple in Hefei City, Anhui Province." The article states, "He has been a monk for 20 years. He began playing computer games in the 2000s... The South China Morning Post reported," and the concluding tone is contradictory, mixing the Japanese forms 'da/de aru' with 'keitai/desu/masu.'
Additionally, on April 13th, the "Nikkō Shimbun" published a news piece about Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, which included absurd phrases like "Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki vows to strive for better results" and "Sasaki performed on the 13th (Korean time)..." showcasing a ridiculous mix of katakana and kanji name representations. These websites occasionally reprint the same English articles that are published by the China Central Television (CCTV) affiliated website.
The Citizen Lab explicitly stated in its report that these represent "a vast network of websites operated within China, masquerading as local news media in 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and South America, and interspersed with numerous commercial press releases to disseminate pro-China misinformation and personal attacks."
The Citizen Lab has dubbed this initiative by the Chinese Communist Party 'Paperwall.' The report highlights its close ties to a public relations firm in Shenzhen, China, confirming the growing significance of private enterprises in the realm of digital influence operations, and indicating that 'the Chinese Communist government tends to use these companies as intermediaries.'
What is particularly alarming is that, despite these fake news websites being exposed over two years ago, the 'Paperwall initiative' continues to publish content. Ryohei Suzuki, a special assistant professor at Hitotsubashi University who studies misinformation and influence operations, sharply pointed out: 'Abroad, we are already witnessing instances where generative AI analyses the content of these fake websites and responds to user inquiries based on biased opinions or misinformation. The ongoing publication of articles by the Paperwall initiative likely aims to facilitate more covert and extensive information manipulation through generative AI.' △
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