Chinese operatives ran a massive campaign using TikTok accounts that seemed to promote Democrat candidates over Republican ones in the run-up to the November midterm elections, according to Forbes.
While the Chinese-owned social media platform has given lip service to the need to rein in election disinformation and foreign interference, a number of news-affiliated accounts failed to reveal their connection to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-owned media. The accounts accrued millions of views on posts that tackled contentious topics, such as abortion and race, and included clips that primarily targeted GOP candidates, Forbes found.
"This opens a new dimension for conversation about TikTok," Conor Healy, director of government research at surveillance research group IPVM, told the Daily Caller.
MediaLinks TV – which manages the accounts — registered as a foreign agent for China with the Treasury Department in 2019. The company distributes CGTN — the U.S. division of China Central Television (CCTV), according to its LinkedIn page.
According to Forbes, the largest accounts are @Panadorama, @The…Optimist and @NewsTokss. Covering U.S. national news in particular, NewsTokss ran content that praised Democrats and cast Republicans in an unflattering light.
A video that ran on NewsTokss in July was introduced with the caption "Cruz, Abbott Don't Care About Us," while one from October was captioned "Rubio Has Done Absolutely Nothing."
Though more rare, Forbes found that some content targeted Democrats, such as a video in October that asked viewers if President Joe Biden's promise to codify abortion rights was a "political manipulation tactic."
Nothing in the videos clearly disclosed to viewers that they were being pushed by the Chinese government; profile bios for the accounts said, "Material distributed by MediaLinks TV LLC on behalf of CCTV. More info at DOJ, D.C."
"That's not disclosure," Healy said.
Most people watching MediaLinks videos never see the language in the bio. NewsTokss racked up 8.3 million views but only 57,600 profile views between May 8 and July 6, according to data posted on LinkedIn by a MediaLinks employee.
The company also makes an indirect reference to its foreign agent status by directing viewers to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Healey told the Caller that such influential accounts should be clearly identified as state-run.
"Either they don't care and don't have the protocols in place to deal with this, or they're letting it happen," he said.
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