A network of at least 123 websites operated from within the People’s Republic of China while posing as local news outlets in 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America, disseminates pro-Beijing disinformation and ad hominem attacks within much larger volumes of commercial press releases. We name this campaign PAPERWALL. We attribute the PAPERWALL campaign to Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media Co., Ltd., aka Haimai, a PR firm in China based on digital infrastructure linkages between the firm’s official website and the network. These findings confirm the increasingly important role private firms play in the realm of digital influence operations and the propensity of the Chinese government to make use of them.

Related Keywords

France , United States , Brazil , Spain , China , Saudi Arabia , Egypt , Milano , Lombardia , Italy , Roma , Lazio , Norway , Beijing , Japan , Chinese , Norwegian , Japanese , Spanish , American , Italian , America , Li Hongzhi , Gemma Lyon , Pellaeon Lin , Siena Anstis , Falun Gong , John Scott Railton , Li Meng Yan , Melissa Chan , Ron Deibert , Yan Limeng , World Development , Google , Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media Co Ltd , Current Affairs , Facebook , Korean National Cyber Security Center , Instagram , Extensive Network Of Websites , Type Of Campaign Matters , Wordpress , Tencent Computer Systems Inc , Broader Network , Latin America , Times Newswire , South Korean National Cyber Security Center , Extensive Network , Tencent Cloud , Targeted Attacks , Meng Yan , Perelman Medical School , South East Asian , Local Mainstream , Global Times , Autonomous System , Tencent Building Kejizhongyi Avenue , Wayback Machine , South Korean , Excelsior Partners , Google Adsense , Latin American , Google News ,