City
Epaper

Google disables China-backed YouTube channels

By IANS | Published: August 23, 2019 9:30 AM

Google has disabled 210 YouTube channels that China used to sow discord among protesters in Hong Kong.

Open in App

The tech giant discovered that these YouTube accounts behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos related to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

"This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter," Shane Huntley, Threat Analysis Group at Google Security said in a blog post on Thursday.

Google found use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other methods to disguise the origin of these accounts and other activity commonly associated with coordinated influence operations.

"Each month, our Threat Analysis Group sends more than 4,000 warnings to our users about attempts by government-backed attackers or other illicit actors to infiltrate their accounts," said the company.

Earlier this week, as pro-democracy protests gained momentum in Hong Kong, Twitter and Facebook suspended several accounts that were part of the Chinese government's influence campaign and targeted protest movement in Hong Kong.

Twitter said it suspended more than 200,000 accounts involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour including 936 accounts originating from within China.

Facebook said it removed seven Pages, three Groups and five accounts that originated in China and involved in posting fake news pertaining to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

Since June, Hong Kong has been rocked by a wave of protests because of the extradition bill, which would have enabled fugitives to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she was willing to create a platform for dialogue, but will not sanction an independent investigation into police actions during the political crisis that has rocked the city for almost three months.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Hong KongchinaGoogle Security
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalTaiwan Detects Seven Chinese Military Aircraft, Five Naval Vessels Across the Nation (See Tweet)

InternationalTaiwan Detects 26 Chinese Military Aircraft, Five Naval Ships Across the Country (See Tweet)

InternationalChina: Death Toll Rises to 36 After Motorway Collapse

Social ViralCat's Playtime Gone Wrong: Chinese Owner Faces Rs 11 Lakh Damage as Pet Triggers Kitchen Fire

InternationalChina: At Least 19 Killed, Dozens Injured After Highway Collapses in Guangdong Province

टेकमेनिया Realted Stories

TechnologyOver 1,000 documents wrongly issued from govt portal in S. Korea

TechnologyWhatsApp working on these new features to improve your chat experience

TechnologyFSSAI terms reports of allowing 10x more MRL in herbs, spices 'baseless'

TechnologySouth Korea to take part in US-led cyber exercise amid rising security threats from North Korea

TechnologyNew Covid variant 'FLiRT' capable of evading the immune system: Experts