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Observers Urge Social Media Platforms to Keep Scrutinizing China-Backed
Accounts

Joyce Huang

   Three U.S. social media giants -- Facebook, Twitter and Google's
   YouTube -- have taken action to remove hundreds of accounts with
   alleged ties to the Chinese government's manipulation of opinion about
   the months-long anti-government movement in Hong Kong.

   But analysts said more needs to be done, as China's global media drive
   to control information beyond its borders has become so "irrevocable"
   that it poses a threat to democratic development and press freedom
   throughout the world.

   YouTube said last week that it has suspended 210 channels, which
   "behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos related to the
   ongoing protests in Hong Kong." Those channels were suspected to be
   part of a Beijing-backed campaign to influence opinion about the city's
   political unrest.

   The move followed similar measures announced by Twitter and Facebook
   earlier last week to stop the distribution of disinformation content,
   for example, likening the anti-government protests in Hong Kong to the
   terrorist group Islamic State.

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