By Cai Siyun, Vision Times
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online influence operations have long relied on fake social media accounts run by bots, content farms, and fabricated videos to promote Beijing’s narratives while undermining the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan. Now, as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widely used, these efforts have only intensified, but recent missteps suggest the regime’s propaganda machine is not as seamless as it appears.
Wang Hung-en, a RAND Corporation researcher and associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, recently revealed that some CCP-linked content farms have begun using AI-generated posts, and in multiple cases, operators forgot to delete the prompts embedded in the final text.
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AI prompts left behind
In a Facebook post, Wang said he had recently discovered several Facebook pages publishing AI-generated content written in traditional Chinese “specifically targeting Taiwanese audiences” to promote the People’s Republic of China. He noted that, much like many students and academic writers, these operators “forgot to remove the AI prompt.”
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One striking example came from a page introducing Chinese public figures, where the post ended with an unedited instruction: “This article has been re-edited for Taiwanese users, using Traditional Chinese characters, with the word count limited to 500. The beginning of the original text has been retained, and the historical authenticity of the original text has not been altered.”
Wang added that in other cases, pages later deleted the prompts, but they remained visible in edit histories, suggesting that the operators understood such instructions were not meant to be seen.
Targeted propaganda aimed at Taiwan
Wang said that while content farms have previously been observed pushing narratives such as encouraging Taiwanese businessman Terry Gou to run for president or promoting referendums on U.S. pork imports, this latest discovery confirms two missing pieces in past research: The use of AI, and the highly customized targeting of Taiwanese readers rather than overseas Chinese audiences.
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He stressed that if these are cross-border, coordinated operations closely linked to CCP authorities, Taiwan must take the threat seriously. According to Wang’s analysis, many of the articles are saturated with Chinese nationalism and anti-Japanese messaging, closely aligned with Beijing’s official propaganda direction. He suggested these content farms are connected to the Cyberspace Administration of China and the CCP’s propaganda apparatus.
Wang argued that AI rewriting also helps conceal the origin of posts, making attribution harder. This, he said, is unlikely to be the work of a single careless editor, but rather an intentional effort to produce tailored patriotic messaging aimed at Taiwan.
‘Caught red-handed’
Wang’s post drew heavy engagement, with many netizens saying they had noticed suspiciously similar writing styles spreading online. One commenter wrote: “Recently I’ve seen so many posts like this circulating on social media. I always thought it was suspicious — now the truth is finally out.” Another said: “I’ve seen plenty of them here in the U.S., and they really do influence people.”
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Others urged vigilance: “These pages are everywhere… their goal is to tie Taiwanese emotions to a ‘Greater China’ complex. Just check whether the admin accounts are filled with Hong Kong-registered profiles — it gives it away immediately.”
Some mocked the propaganda operators directly: “This editor is terrible — totally exposed!” and “So amateur. Is this outsourced ten times over to tiny subcontractors?”
On Jan. 11, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) released a statement warning that Beijing continues to wage cognitive warfare against Taiwan by exploiting major events to inflame internal division, weaken public resistance, reduce allied support, and “gain recognition for the CCP’s position.”
5 key tactics
The NSB recently completed a report titled “Analysis of CCP Cognitive Warfare Operations Against Taiwan in 2025,” outlining five major operational methods. First, CCP party-state-military systems set controversial narratives, then mobilize tech firms, PR companies, and cyber groups to spread targeted messaging.
The NSB said agencies including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of State Security, and the PLA Political Work Department employ firms such as “Zhongke Tianji,” “Meiya Pico,” and “Womin High-Tech” to use web-crawling technology to collect data on Taiwanese politicians, opinion leaders, and election trends.
Second, CCP propaganda and public security organs allegedly create fake international media sites, such as Aisa Korea and Austria Weekly, to amplify Beijing’s narratives.
Third, the CCP reportedly cultivates content farms on Facebook and deploys “soft topic” accounts on platforms like Threads and X to subtly inject political messaging.
Fourth, the Ministry of Public Security is said to use the “dragon bridge” cyber army group to conduct influence operations in more than 20 languages across 180 global platforms, supported by automated fake-account control systems managing tens of thousands of accounts.
Fifth, Chinese state-linked enterprises are accelerating AI development to integrate public opinion monitoring, automated video generation, and precision targeting. The NSB also warned that firms such as iFlytek have been tasked with developing voice systems to lure Taiwanese citizens into recording samples, later used for synthetic impersonation.
Taiwan’s NSB noted that major institutions in the U.S., EU, Australia, and France have also issued reports warning of CCP information manipulation. The bureau said it has held more than 80 security dialogues and special meetings with international partners to strengthen democratic cooperation against cognitive warfare, while continuing efforts to expose and remove disinformation to prevent foreign hostile infiltration.
