In this session we will explore how high-production, pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda videos led Nisos analysts to discover a commercial information operations (IO) firm. We will then dissect how this firm operates, enables CCP propaganda, and take a peek at their digital infrastructure and technology.
While the “50 cent army” has become a cultural touchstone of the disinformation studies community, the term does not reflect contemporary CCP online propaganda tactics. States are increasingly turning to commercial firms to outsource their IO. By monitoring online discourse around topics of concern to the CCP, counter-IO researchers can better uncover disinformation content, the inauthentic accounts boosting them, covertly operated “state-controlled media” pages, and the entities behind them. Once an entity is identified, IO researchers can leverage OSINT tradecraft and breach data to find government ties, identify key individuals at the entity, and numerate TTPs on exactly how the entity is acting on social media platforms.
