An anonymous reader writes: US officials believe the operation is linked to the Chinese government and have been monitoring its evolution, according to one source familiar with the situation. During the 2020 election, US officials were watching to see if the operation might be used to spread disinformation but ultimately assessed that the Chinese government avoided doing so because it did not want to provoke a response, the source added.
Months later, experts have observed an "explosion of activity" across the world and the move to make physical protests happen in the US "demonstrates they are a very serious threat," Mandiant Threat Intelligence Vice President John Hulquist told CNN.
"This direct call for physical mobilization is a significant development compared to prior activity, potentially indicative of an emerging intent to motivate real-world activity outside of China's territories," the report says. "While this attempt did not appear to achieve any success, we believe it is critical that observers continue to monitor for such attempts in case greater degrees of organic engagement are later realized by the network."
In April for example, experts saw thousands of fake accounts calling on Asian Americans to protest racial injustice in the US and "disinformation about the virus' origins."
