Twitter botnet reportedly launched smear campaign on Huawei’s 5G ban in Belgium

A small group of allegedly pro-Huawei Twitter bots launched a smear campaign the Belgian government plan boxing ‘High risk’ suppliers like Huawei to build the country Red 5G, according to last report since social media research firm Graphika.

Graphika uhe covered the plot in december after the Twitter accounts that had been used in a campaign for China, the company was investigating started retweeting posts on Belgium’s 5G policy. At least 14 Twitter accounts participated, all using similar tactics to appear legitimate. Accounts used fake identities, Student as a technology expert based in Belgium and journalistsYes were several years But I only started posting late 2020. Also all used seemingly bland profile pictures which after closer inspection, had severalsigns of history of being a computergenerated by asymmetries on both sides of the face and a lack of background detail, Graphika wrote.

The accounts would have switched between talk trash the ban proposed by the Belgian government, praising Huawei and sharing articles sponsored by Huawei itself. Unlike other botnets, researchers at Graphika have found evidence suggesting this It was manually operated, which means it was likely a poor fool’s job to write and push Huawei propaganda tweets. The entire campaign lasted about three weeks in December, likely to match the Belgian government’s December 30 deadline for public consultation on the bill. While Graphika concludes that the operation was a failure and “did not gain substantial traction”, the robots reaches millions when his messages were Retweeted by Huawei Chairman Kevin Liu and the the company’s official Twitter account.

However, Graphika’s report does not conclude that Huawei or a related entity has something to do with it. (Although it certainly appears to be). Huawei said in a statement to Los New York Times What is wrong with this thrown an internal investigation “to try to find out exactly what happened and whether there was any inappropriate behavior”.

“Huawei has clear social media policies based on international best practices, and we take any suggestion that they have not been followed very seriously,” Huawei told the outlet.. “Certain social media and online activity has come to our attention, which suggests that we may not have embraced these policies and our broader Huawei values ​​of openness, honesty and transparency. “

The company did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request. for comments.

Lower Belgium new restrictions, the so-called “high risk” vendors, as designated for the European Union, are largely prohibited from contributing to 5G network. Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese company, both fall into this category, which is defined as manufacturers of equipment likely to be interference from a third country ”through government mandates The the absence of “democratic checks and balances” in their country of origin.

All Twitter accounts involved in the Bell now they have been suspended. Twitter told the The times he shot the 14 fake accounts in december after Graphika informed them about the campaign.

“Tampering with the platform is strictly prohibited under Twitter rules,” the company said in a statement to The Times. “As long as we have clear evidence, we will take action on accounts associated with this practice, which may include permanent suspension.”