Yomiuri Shimbun
Cover of leaked sales document for online public opinion manipulation system
May 12, 2024 20:00 (Japan time)
A Shanghai-based technology company with business ties to the Chinese government is suspected of having developed a system to manipulate public opinion through X social media accounts.
An apparent sales document introducing the system is available online and was obtained by Japanese intelligence agencies. The agency believes the document is authentic and is analyzing it to closely investigate its connection to China's efforts to manipulate foreign public opinion.
The approximately 20-page document was leaked onto the internet and is believed to be owned by a technology company called I-Soon. The document, along with about 580 other files believed to be internal company documents, was uploaded to GitHub, an online information sharing platform for information technology engineers, in mid-February.
The title of the document obtained by the Yomiuri Shimbun was written in Chinese as “Product Introduction Document for Twitter Opinion Manipulation and Control System''. The cover also states that this document is his first edition released in 2022.
The purpose of the system, according to the documents, is to monitor and manipulate public opinion outside China. The beginning of the document states, “We have established a system to meet the need to detect inconvenient critical opinions,'' and “In order to ensure social stability, it is important for public security authorities to control public opinion.''
According to this document and other sources, the system allows users to take over someone else's X account by submitting a malicious URL and getting the link clicked. As a result, users can access private direct messages and post opinions in line with Chinese authorities' policies without the knowledge of the hijacked account owner.
