Beijing ran an AI-powered network targeting Philippines, Southeast Asia and the US, prompting concerns about China's covert use of western social media platforms to promote its interests.

One network, which had links to people in Fujian province, China, primarily targeted the Philippines and South East Asian countries, and employed fake social media accounts to spread messages about China’s naval actions in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and in support of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

It also posted content in support of or against presidential contenders Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg. The network apparently gained little traction in the US. Facebook took down 155 Facebook accounts, 11 Pages, nine Groups and six Instagram accounts affiliated with the network.

The second network originated in the Philippines and targeted users there with pro-Duterte content. 57 accounts, 31 Pages and 20 Instagram accounts were removed from Facebook.

Both operations used faces created through an AI technique known as GANs, and broke Facebook’s rules against “coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.”