China targets Australia in AI and gambling ‘fake news’ plot through political forums online

China has been caught allegedly using a criminal gambling cartel to infiltrate Australia and hijack online political forums with AI. This is how they’re doing it.

China has been caught using online gambling sites to sow propaganda and disinformation in Australia through a flood of AI-generated fake social media accounts.

According to Australian intelligence, Beijing’s influence operations are allegedly using a transnational criminal gambling cartel based in Myanmar to push messaging through its online forums and chat rooms about Australian politics including The Voice, Labor divisions and Brittany Higgins.

While the themes are real, the AI-generated chat accounts go further to amplify disinformation, claims of rapes and sexual abuse in Australian parliament, push conspiracies and promote questionable political groups like the Australian Citizens Party.

A suspected Chinese Communist Party-linked Twitter account to promote online gambling sites and using popular Australian political hashtags to spark debate. Image: Supplied

That fringe group is backed by Europe’s Schiller Institute and the cult-like LaRouche Movement in the US that support China’s leader Xi Jinping and Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

Even the chats are fake with Artificial Intelligence generated Twitter accounts with random images and conversations but are being picked up by real people who respond and or re-post believing it’s legitimate news.

Onlinne forums where Brittany Higgins is discussed are being infiltrated. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

They are also accessing forums about the Voice referendum. Picture: Getty

Many particularly in Australian Chinese communities do not suspect they are talking to smart AI messaging which uses recognisable legitimate hashtags like #AUKUS and #MeToo to gain traction.

Beijing’s propaganda and foreign influence campaigns are well documented but the use of a known transnational criminal entity as a proxy threading discourse is new. ASIO is also specifically targeted in the latest campaign.

MORE: Human vs. ChatGPT: Can you identify the AI?

China has been caught using online gambling sites to sow propaganda and disinformation in Australia through a flood of AI-generated fake social media accounts. Picture: AFP

Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said democracy was under challenge from foreign interference and rising disinformation and discord online.

“We have made clear our commitment to protect our democracy against any and all attempts to weaken it, particularly from foreign interference,” a spokesman for the minister said of the latest campaign.

“Attempts at sowing misinformation in Australia are designed to weaken our social fabric and create division within our country. While they are almost always unsuccessful they are serious and the federal government is using every resource available to disrupt and break up these plans.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute cyber espionage and AI tech analyst Albert Zhang said data analysis showed a clear link between the CCP and the AI-generated profiles, chats and illegal online gambling sites.

While Beijing has been financially backing the physical and cyber casino industry in places like Myanmar and Cambodia, it does not necessarily support gambling.

Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said democracy was under challenge from foreign interference and rising disinformation and discord online.a. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But such outfits had developed social media assets to advertise so can take the chats and avoid anti-spam policies social platforms are trying to combat.

Mr Zhang – who has a University of Melbourne Masters in Mathematics and uses more quantitative data to support his analysis – said since 2019 the CCP had been identifying voices in Australia supportive of them to amplify their messaging.

ASPI cyber espionage, foreign interference and AI tech analyst Albert Zhang who uses his Melbourne University Masters in Mathematics to analyse data. Picture: Supplied

“In the case of The Voice, they are taking concerns, amplifying beyond what is happening in the political debate but also mixing those posts with half-truths and disinformation to cause confusion and spread misleading narratives,” he said.

“Authorities are aware the Chinese government is using social media as a way to interfere in the political debate, the question is how do they enforce against it?”

He said there had been mis-co-ordination between the different authorities with who is responsible for countering this type of behaviour beyond just demanding posts be taken down.

Originally published as China targets Australia in AI and gambling ‘fake news’ plot through political forums online