If the CCP already began working on the technologies since 2023, it would be ready to target the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, researchers say.
A new report from RAND found that the Chinese military has embraced the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to further foreign influence campaigns.
The United States and other countries “should prepare for this AI-driven social media manipulation” by adopting risk reduction measures, promoting media literacy and government trustworthiness, increasing public reporting, and increasing diplomatic coordination, according to the study, published Oct. 1.
It’s the first report focused on the planning and strategies behind the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) social media influence campaigns.
Researchers investigated Li Bicheng, a Chinese military-affiliated researcher and leading expert on mass social media manipulation who is believed to be at least partly responsible for the regime’s adoption of these technologies. The study also pulled evidence from over 220 Chinese language articles from academic journals and more than 20 English language articles from international conferences written by Li.
Among the key findings are that the CCP began developing social media manipulation capabilities in the 2010s, is “clearly interested in leveraging AI” for these campaigns, that Chinese military researchers are conducting cutting-edge work, and that the CCP is well-positioned to run these large-scale manipulation campaigns.
The researchers note that the CCP’s AI activities run counter to the regime’s public statements, in which officials have overtly stated their opposition to using AI for disinformation.
Adopting Social Media
According to the researchers, the CCP’s initial response to social media-fueled uprisings, such as the Arab Spring, was to crack down on the technology.
But it also took an interest in what it saw as Western uses of “online psychological warfare,” and in 2013 released planning documents for the CCP to “strengthen international communications capabilities and construct foreign discourse power.”
CCP leader Xi Jinping gave a speech that year calling for “launching a public opinion struggle” and aiming to “build a strong cyber army.”
He said China is a victim of accusations coming from the West and said retaliation was justified.
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