Meta announced Wednesday it has removed over 600 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to a Chinese influence operation that claimed the U.S. was pressuring the World Health Organization (WHO) to blame COVID on China.
Though Meta said the network was unsuccessful, it marks yet another COVID disinformation campaign instigated by China in an effort to discredit the U.S.
A fake persona claiming to be a Swiss biologist created an account in July, two days after it was reported that the Chinese government had rejected a WHO plan for the second phase of a study into COVID origins, and posted a message alleging that “WHO sources and a number of fellow researchers” had complained of “enormous pressure and even intimidation” from the U.S.
