End – and punish – Beijing’s election interference

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Amidst the endless warnings about Russian interference in our elections, another state actor’s influence operations have been largely ignored. But a recent spate of anti-Trump advertisements that have been placed on Facebook and other social media platforms by Chinese Communist Party propaganda instruments without disclosing their sponsors demand attention, and corrective action.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Amidst the endless warnings about Russian interference in our elections, another state actor’s influence operations have been largely ignored. But a recent spate of anti-Trump advertisements that have been placed on Facebook and other social media platforms by Chinese Communist Party propaganda instruments without disclosing their sponsors demand attention, and corrective action.

The ads have run in English, Chinese and Arabic and are aimed at promoting the Communist Party-line with audiences around the world. Their memes praise the PRC’s effective action against the coronavirus. And they depict Donald Trump as a racist for pointing out China’s responsibility for the present pandemic.

Beijing’s open hostility towards President Trump, to say nothing of the overt effort to help defeat him that it animates, is unacceptable. Those who relentlessly warn about foreign election interference should be leaders in condemning and punishing what China is perpetrating.

This is Frank Gaffney.

Frank Gaffney, Jr.

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