June 26, 2024 at 11:03AM
Google continues to disrupt China-linked threat actor Dragonbridge’s influence operations on YouTube and Blogger. With over 10,000 instances taken down in Q1 2023, the internet giant has disabled over 175,000 Dragonbridge instances to date. Despite high content volume, the activity remains largely ineffective, with mostly inauthentic engagement. Dragonbridge continues promoting pro-China narratives, targeting various global events, and experimenting with AI tools.
From the meeting notes, it is evident that Google has been actively disrupting the activities of the China-linked threat actor Dragonbridge. The group has been engaged in long-running influence operations through thousands of inauthentic accounts on various online platforms to promote narratives aligned with China’s political interests.
It’s worth noting that despite their persistent efforts to scale their operation, Dragonbridge’s activity has remained largely ineffective, with minimal organic engagement from real viewers. The threat actor creates low quality content and has been observed targeting breaking news and social wedge issues. Furthermore, they have sought to influence events such as the 2024 general election in Taiwan.
One specific campaign involved the promotion of an allegedly ‘secret history’ document critical of the outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, utilizing AI-generated news hosts in what was the largest Dragonbridge campaign using AI to date.
Despite the failure to gain traction with an authentic audience, Dragonbridge continues to produce high volumes of content across multiple social media platforms, demonstrating persistence and a willingness to experiment with tactics and techniques.
Overall, Google’s efforts have resulted in the disruption of over 175,000 Dragonbridge instances, with a significant number of YouTube channels and videos being disabled. It is clear from the meeting notes that Google is actively monitoring and combatting the influence operations of this threat actor, with a particular focus on the promotion of narratives in line with China’s political interests.