The American think tank, the Center for Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) of the “Foundation for Defense of Democracies,” has exposed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using overseas social media platforms to promote false accusations and attack US President Trump (Trump) and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takai.
CCTI found that the CCP is using fake social media accounts to spread false information to audiences in countries such as the United States and Japan. From December 2025 to February 2026, this coordinated network published content on platforms such as X, Tumblr, Blogspot, Quora, and YouTube, manipulating the algorithms of these platforms to push their content to real users.
The network consists of six different groups, each focusing on disseminating different narratives to different audiences, but all groups align with Beijing’s interests. One of the groups is particularly targeted at the US audience, while another group focuses on Sanae Takai, attempting to influence the debate leading to Japan’s House of Representatives election on February 8.
According to a report by Reuters, before and after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takai won the election in February, dozens of social media accounts on platform X related to CCP’s false information propaganda attacked her conservative views and tough stance against the CCP. These 35 accounts on X and 9 channels on the microblogging social network Tumblr spread corruption accusations, portraying Takai as an illegal leader leading Japan to the brink of war.
Researcher Maria Riofrio from CCTI’s latest analysis shows that these accounts are part of a network consisting of at least 327 X accounts and other social media accounts. Since December of last year or earlier, they have been attacking critics of the CCP and promoting pro-CCP policies, as well as targeting human rights organizations to influence domestic politics in Japan, the US, the Philippines, and Latin American countries.
A spokesperson for Takai stated that the Prime Minister’s office has noticed suspicious foreign social media accounts posting content related to Japanese elections.
“We believe this constitutes a national security threat, undermining the foundations of democracy, including the fairness of elections and freedom of press. We believe urgent measures must be taken as a priority,” the spokesperson said.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu, in a statement to Reuters, said the “analysis” by the “Foundation for Defense of Democracies” is unfounded, and China consistently opposes and combats the use of fake accounts and other means to manipulate public opinion or spread false information.
Riofrio pointed out that this recent operation has been identified as a distinct group due to its pro-CCP narrative. The group collaborates on messaging, using overlapping hashtags and other similar features.
She stated that the group is likely part of the CCP’s long-term information warfare strategy, with cybersecurity analysts referring to it as “Spamouflage” or “Dragonbridge.”
Despite the relatively low engagement with the content, users are indeed seeing it in their social media feeds, and the operators are using algorithms to boost the exposure of this content.
Riofrio mentioned that this activity demonstrates that the CCP has a “political willingness to intervene in Japanese elections and domestic politics,” noting that the group also conducts similar actions against other countries, including the United States.
According to the analysis by the “Foundation for Defense of Democracies,” nearly half of the 327 accounts attack US President Trump, claiming his policies on drugs and border security have worsened the fentanyl crisis in America, reversing the progress made during the Biden era and shifting blame away from the CCP.
She stated that one account in the network, FentanylFreeA, established in December 2025, appears to mimic the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) “Fentanyl Free America” campaign, not only similar in name but also using the same visual materials. This account also targets the United States and India, accusing them of being the source of fentanyl precursors.
Both the White House and the US Drug Enforcement Administration did not respond to media requests for comments. Experts suggest that activities known as Spamouflage or Dragonbridge have been active since at least 2017, repeatedly targeting various groups worldwide.
A spokesperson from Google’s Threat Intelligence group stated that due to the “huge scale and aggressive narrative agenda” of Dragonbridge, as of early 2026, it is the most active pro-CCP information operator tracked by the intelligence group.
The Google spokesperson mentioned that while Dragonbridge primarily targets the United States, overseas dissidents, government critics, and international non-governmental organizations, its activities in the Asia-Pacific region are notably more aggressive, including targeting Japan’s political leadership, Japan-Taiwan relations, Vietnam’s activities in the South China Sea, and governments of India and the Philippines.
The American artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI stated that their ChatGPT AI service refused to assist an individual associated with the CCP’s law enforcement department in planning a network activity aimed at discrediting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takai.
In their latest report on preventing malicious use of AI, OpenAI detailed the user’s requests, which include modifying status reports for large-scale covert influence operations against foreign hostile forces.
In addition to attacking foreign leaders, the CCP also targets dissidents abroad. OpenAI believes that the evidence they collected indicates that the CCP’s law enforcement department is conducting a “massive, resource-intensive, and continuous” crackdown on dissenting voices.
In one instance, Chinese officials used forged US county court documents to deceive a US social media platform into shutting down the social media account of a Chinese dissident.
“This is the face of modern cross-border suppression in China (CCP).,” said Ben Nimmo, Chief Researcher at OpenAI, before the release of the report. “It’s not just network suppression, it’s not just internet trolls. It’s industrial-scale, it’s trying to hit anyone criticizing the CCP with all means, anywhere, simultaneously.”