China is increasingly using disinformation to step up its campaign against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.  This despicable campaign is unfortunately catalyzing authoritarianism worldwide according to an article in Democracy Digest.

Seeking to find a way to wrest control of the narrative, Beijing has stepped up its efforts to sow discord and disinformation about the months-long Hong Kong protests through some interesting methods on Twitter, QUARTZ reports:

A report from Canberra-based think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published today (Sept. 3) said that some Twitter accounts at the center of Beijing’s recent online campaign had been tweeting a range a content including pornography, soccer, and K-pop prior to disseminating content about Hong Kong. At least two of the four accounts with the most retweets were related to pornography.

The report – Tweeting through the Great Firewall – cites Beijing propaganda outlets disseminating such tweets as: Freedom without a bottom line is by no means a blessing; democracy without the rule of law can only bring disaster and chaos. Although Hong Kong has a good financial background, it can’t afford to vacillate. It can’t take all of this internal friction and maliciously created agitation, which will only ruin Hong Kong’s future. The rule of law is the core value of Hong Kong.

See full story here.