A massive pro-China “spamouflage” network on social media is being used to distort international perceptions on important issues, such as U.S. gun laws, COVID-19, and racial discrimination, according to a recent report. The tactic is using a sprawling network of computer-generated “people” to promote the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) narratives and discredit the West, especially the United States. Fake users, or bots, are used on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, according to a report (pdf) by the non-profit Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), published on Aug. 5. CIR is an independent and non-profit organization which aims at countering disinformation. The report found that users who intend to have an open, honest discussion or seek informed opinions on social media platforms would not think twice when a bot crosses their feed. Bots are almost indistinguishable from real people. Though they appear to be human, these bots are simply generated by cutting-edge …