The NY Times published a story today based on a review of Chinese documents, specifically a hiring notice put out by Shanghai police. What the story reveals is an effort by one particular agency to hire private firms for what they call public opinion management but which could accurately be described as PRC propaganda.

The Shanghai police are looking to create hundreds of fake accounts on Twitter, Facebook and other major social media platforms. The police department emphasizes that the task is time sensitive, suggesting that it wants to be ready to unleash the accounts quickly to steer discussion…

Recently, Facebook took down 500 accounts after they were used to spread comments from a Swiss biologist by the name of Wilson Edwards, who had purportedly written that the United States was interfering with the World Health Organization’s efforts to track the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The Swiss embassy in Beijing said Wilson Edwards did not exist, but the fake scientist’s accusations had already been quoted by Chinese state media.

These kind of gimmicks don’t really fool people for very long. China has created a horde of fake social media accounts before but these accounts are often easy to identify because they don’t have any real followers or organic engagement. They just coordinate to push the party line. Case in point, this is basically how China reacted after the disappearance of Peng Shuai. But Chinese authorities are escalating their efforts and asking contractors to create more realistic accounts and more video content useful to the PRC.

Earlier this year, a New York Times and ProPublica analysis showed how thousands of videos portraying members of the Uyghur ethnic minority living happy and free lives were a key part of an information campaign that Twitter ultimately attributed to the Chinese Communist Party. When Twitter took down the network behind those posts, it took down accounts linked to a contractor that it said helped shoot propaganda videos. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment.

I recently wrote about China’s use of western bloggers aka “white monkeys,” most of whom claim they aren’t on the PRC’s payroll despite evidence they are in fact being paid for every pro-China video they create, either through direct payments into Chinese bank accounts or through sponsored travel to create their videos.

The Times reports the effort to hire public opinion managers it documented is just the tip of the iceberg.

Local governments and police across China have put out similar requests for services to influence overseas social media, but often in vague terms. Occasionally, specifics are revealed. In 2017, for instance, the police in Inner Mongolia purchased software that allowed government trolls to post directly to multiple social media sites, inside and outside of China, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

This article doesn’t go into much detail but it does suggest that the companies doing this work aren’t limited to putting out propaganda. Part of the work also involves tracking responses and collecting data on who is pushing back on their propaganda. It’s not clear what the PRC does with information on its critics. If those critics are citizens of western states who don’t travel to China there’s probably not much they can do. However, if those critics are Chinese students or professionals studying or working abroad, they have options.

Back in April the Washington Post reported on the harassment of a Chinese journalists who dared to write something critical about the treatment of minorities in Xinjiang. And just last month ProPublica reported on China’s efforts to stifle students in America who might suddenly feel free to criticize their country while abroad. One student studying in Indiana was asked to give a speech about the Tiananmen Square massacre. Then he got a call from his parents in China begging him to be quiet or they would all be in trouble.

It’s nothing new at this point but it’s worth paying attention to the ways in which China is using western social media to push their propaganda and also to keep tabs on anyone who dares to disagree.