The security analyst: "Russia and China reinforce each other's disinformation"

This is how Mollie Saltskog, an analyst at the security company Soufan Group in Washington DC, describes the "disinformation year 2022".

- We have seen that the Chinese Communist Party used censorship, propaganda and disinformation against its own population for a very long time.

But in 2019 during the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, we saw an increasing tendency that they also tried to use disinformation externally, to influence public opinion.

Become more sophisticated

She describes how the country's disinformation capacity has since become increasingly sophisticated, something that appeared "very marked" during the pandemic.

- They have campaigns on traditional social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, but one should also not forget a newer platform: Tiktok.

"Definitely worrying"

Chinese actors are said to have been inspired by Russian disinformation methodology, and during the year increasingly began to "help" spread the Kremlin's various messages in the West.

- The fact that China and Russia are amplifying each other's influence campaigns clearly has alarming broader implications geopolitically, given that we have seen how Moscow and Beijing have approached each other in recent years.

What is it that China has spread in the West in 2022?

Watch the video above for three common Chinese disinformation themes.