Four digital marketing and PR firms from China with a ‘shared customer’ have been operating a network of news websites, spreading inauthentic pro-Chinese content around the globe.
Google said it has blocked more than a thousand websites from Google News and Google Discover for violating the policies that prohibit deceptive behavior and require editorial transparency. All of the sites are attributed to a single umbrella group, dubbed Glassbride, linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
According to the tech giant, this network is bulk-creating and operating hundreds of domains, spreading thematically similar, inauthentic content that emphasizes narratives aligned with China's political interests.
The consistent content, behavioral similarities across four firms, and pro-China messaging suggest a “shared customer who outsourced the creation of influence campaigns.” However, Google did not attribute who hired the services.
“They pose as independent outlets that republish articles from PRC state media, press releases, and other content likely commissioned by other PR agency clients. In some cases, they publish localized news content copied from legitimate news outlets,” the report by the Google Threat Intelligence Group (TAG) said.
The network targeted users in many countries, including the US, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, and many others. The four companies also spread content from Dragonbride, which is the most prolific influence operations actor tracked by TAG.
The network includes the following stand-alone digital PR firms that offer newswire, syndication, and marketing services:
- Haixun: (Shanghai Haixun Technology)was linked to more than 600 policy-violating domains. To promote its content, Haixun uses Times Newswire and World Newswire as press release distribution services to place its content on legitimate news outlets. They recruit for-hire social media accounts on Fiverr to promote pro-Beijing content. The firm’s inauthentic news sites are generally low quality, hosting spam and repetitive content.
- Haimai: (Shenzhen Haimai Yunxiang Media) operates a network of over 100 websites, masquerading as local news outlets in more than 30 countries. They republished PRC state-controlled media articles, press releases, conspiracy theories, and attacks on specific targeted individuals.
- Durinbridge: is an alias to track a tech and marketing company with multiple subsidiaries providing news and PR services. It operates over 200 websites designed as independent media outlets. Google TAG assesses that Durinbridge itself is not an influence operations actor and likely publishes content on behalf of a customer.
- Shenzhen Bowen Media, a marketing firm, operates over 100 domains posing as local independent news websites. Its operator also operates World Newswire, the press release service.
Google warns that similar behavior has been observed from Russian and Iranian influence operation actors. They pose as independent and often local news outlets, tailor the content to specific regional audiences, and present the narratives as seemingly legitimate news and editorial content.
PR and newswire firms help craft and amplify the content, misrepresenting it as local or independent coverage while concealing their role or involvement.
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