Chinese 'Spamouflage' operatives are mimicking disillusioned Americans online

A Chinese influence operation has ramped up its efforts to impact online discourse around the U.S. elections, creating fake personas across social media platforms to spread divisive messages about the state of the country. 

According to a new report from the social media analytics firm Graphika, the Beijing-backed “Spamouflage” group is behind the campaign. The research builds on an earlier report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which highlighted a series of inauthentic accounts pushing “Make America Great Again” talking points. 

In this case, the 15 accounts on X — formerly known as Twitter — and another on TikTok do not exhibit support for one candidate versus another but instead express frustration with both Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, and more recently Vice President Kamala Harris. They also cast doubt on the electoral process, and spread “divisive narratives” around gun control, homelessness, the Israel-Hamas conflict and racial inequality. 

“Since mid-2023, Spamouflage has expanded its use of inauthentic online personas that impersonate U.S. voters or U.S.-based social media users,” Graphika wrote. “This activity is just a fraction of the larger Spamouflage network but is distinct from the operation’s typical use of low-quality inauthentic accounts with generic and thinly developed personas.”

The researchers identified accounts posing as self-proclaimed patriots — using American flags or images of soldiers in their bios — and which “explicitly stated that they were American voters, soldiers, or ‘someone who love(s) America’ but had supposedly become disappointed at the U.S. government and the current administration.” 

One established Spamouflage operative the researchers have been tracking since 2020 — a “pro-China” media outlet called Deep Red — rebranded with a fake U.S. persona beginning in late 2023. The X account changed its name to “Common fireman,” with a U.S. flag as the banner image, and has since posted about hot-button issues like the risk of violent threats against U.S. election officials and the U.S. ban on TikTok. 

The most influential operative in terms of spread, the researchers found, was a purported conservative news outlet called Harlan Report, which until recently had an account on X and TikTok and was previously on Instagram and YouTube before those were removed. The account pretended to be run by a veteran critical of the Biden administration before it changed its persona to a 29-year-old Trump supporter with the user name “Biden Hamas,” and then again to a 31-year-old Florida influencer.

One video mocking Biden had 1.5 million views on TikTok — significantly more than any other Spamouflage content.