Google exposes YouTube campaign targeting Hong Kong protests

YouTube on Thursday said it disabled 210 channels that appeared to be part of a coordinated influence campaign against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

action by Google-owned service came this week as Twitter and Facebook accused Chinese government of backing a social media campaign to discredit Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and sow political discord in city.

"We disabled 210 channels on YouTube when we discovered channels in this network behaved in a coordinated manner while uploing videos related to ongoing protests in Hong Kong," Shane Huntley of Google's security threat analysis group said in an online post.

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"This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China anunced by Facebook and Twitter." Twitter and Facebook anunced on Monday y h suspended nearly 1,000 active accounts linked to a coordinated influence campaign, while Twitter said it h shut down about 200,000 more before y could inflict any dam.

"se accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining legitimacy and political positions of protest movement on ground," Twitter said, referring to active accounts it shut down.

Facebook said some of posts from accounts it banned compared protesters in Hong Kong with Islamic State group militants, branded m "cockroaches" and alleged y planned to kill people using slingshots.

Hong Kong, a semi-automous sourn Chinese city and one of world's most important financial hubs, is in grip of an unprecedented political crisis that has seen millions of people take to streets demanding greater freedoms.

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China's communist rulers have warned y may be prepared to deploy force to quell nearly three months of unrest, and likened violent protesters to "terrorists".

However, y have publicly largely left city's leers and police force to try and resolve crisis. Behind scenes online though, Chinese government is seeking to sway public opinion about Hong Kong, according to Twitter and Facebook.

"We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on situation in Hong Kong, specifically protest movement and ir calls for political change," Twitter said.

It said it h pulled 936 accounts originating in China that were spreing disinformation.

"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," Twitter said.

Twitter and Facebook are banned in China, part of government's so-called "Great Firewall" of censorship. Because of bans, many of fake accounts were accessed using "virtual private networks" that give a deceptive picture of user's location, Twitter said.

"However, some accounts accessed Twitter from specific unblocked IP dresses originating in mainland China," it said.

Facebook said it h acted on a tip from Twitter, removing seven ps, three groups and five Facebook accounts that h about 15,500 followers.

"Although people behind this activity attempted to conceal ir identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with Chinese government," Facebook said.

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