An army of Chinese-controlled social media bots is attempting to influence voters in Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee, while denigrating U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, according to new research published on Wednesday by Microsoft.
The operation represents a coordinated interference effort against down-ballot races, experts say, in which the fake accounts are denigrating U.S. Representative Barry Moore of Alabama, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn and Rubio, all Republicans.
The troll network has “parroted antisemitic messages, amplified accusations of corruption and promoted opposition candidates,” according to Microsoft.
The group responsible is known as Taizi Flood, which has been previously associated with China’s Ministry of Public Security, researchers say. The lawmakers were each targeted because they had denounced Chinese government policies historically, the report notes….