Google’s Threat Analysis Group blocks over 1000 fake pro-propaganda Chinese news sites posing as independent media outlets from Search, Discovery, and Google News.
Operation Glassbridge
Since 2022, Google’s Threat Analysis Group has been operating to identify fake Chinese news websites publishing pro-Beijing propaganda.
During that time, Google blocked over 1000 domains and websites from appearing in search results and on Google Discovery and News.
Four companies (known as Glassbridge within Google), Shanghai Haixun Technology, DURINBRIDGE, Haimai, and Shenzhen Bowen Media, created and operated most of those 1000 fake domains. Google also identified several PR firms that assisted with publishing the fake content.
The Umbrella offenders with 1000 domains
The four websites Google identified and blocked are an umbrella group that created and ran a thousand domains posing as Global independent news outlets for a single client, Beijing.
The fake websites republished thousands of articles from the People’s Republic Of China state media groups and created fake publications covering sensitive topics like Taiwan, the South China Sea, and COVID-19. These sites often target specific regions and demographics to sway opinion and belief by publishing state-sponsored news releases alongside genuine local content.
Google’s senior threat analyst Vanessa Molter said:
- “By posing as independent, and often local news outlets, IO actors are able to tailor their content to specific regional audiences and present their narratives as seemingly legitimate news and editorial content.”
The Glassbridge group includes:
- Shanghai Haixun Technology operated 600 policy-violating domains on 4 continents.
- Paperwall ran over 100 websites, posing as local media outlets in 30 countries.
- DURINBRIDGE ran over 200 domains.
- Shenzhen Bowen Media presented pro-China narratives targeted at specific regions.
Google says the four sites targeted numerous countries, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Vietnam, India, Kenya, and the USA.
Hiding behind PR firms
Google’s investigation found that the umbrella group used PR firms to hide their affiliations with the Chinese government, enabling those behind the fake news campaigns to claim plausible deniability.
Vanessa Molter said:
- “By using private PR firms, the actors behind the information operations gain plausible deniability, obscuring their role in the dissemination of coordinated inauthentic content.”
Misleading behavior and editorial transparency
Google’s Threat Intelligence Group said it had blocked the four companies and their 1000 domains because they violated the tech giant’s guidelines for “misleading behavior and editorial transparency” by attempting to spread a fake narrative to serve the Chinese government.
Google’s senior threat analyst Vanessa Molter added:
- “The inauthentic news sites operated by Glassbridge illustrate how information operations actors have embraced methods beyond social media in an attempt to spread their narratives. We have observed similar behavior from Russian and Iranian [information operations] IO actors.”
Google’s “Glassbridge” campaign will continue to monitor these and other domains of interest to ensure the fake content doesn’t appear on Google’s platforms.
