China has ‘sophisticated influence apparatus’ but did not try to sway 2020 US election, American intelligence chief says
- China has made advances in AI, big data analytics and deepfakes; its initiatives already detected in elections in Australia, Canada and Taiwan, says Avril Haines
- Senator Mark Warner says TikTok poses risks, ‘with ownership based in a country assessed to conduct election influence campaigns’
Haines highlighted that China had made important advances in its “influence operation tools”, taking advantage of recent discoveries in areas such as big data analytics and the use of deepfake technologies to generate content.
“Beijing seeks to promote support for China’s policy positions and perspectives, including in the context of specific elections, by portraying the US democratic model as chaotic, ineffective, unrepresentative and magnifying US societal divisions,” Haines said.
The director also said intelligence agencies would continue to monitor Beijing’s activities and alert social media platforms if coordinated disinformation campaigns were detected. Additionally, they would collaborate with the FBI to attribute responsibility for such movements.
Despite Haines’ statement, Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said Chinese “influence actors aggressively sought to shape the outcome of Taiwan’s election earlier this year, including promoting narratives the election had been rigged as election day approached”.