Readers may remember that my Arts Editor and I attended the Shen Yun show last February, and Deb was interviewed at intermission by a reporter from The Epoch Times, a Chinese-oriented media outlet which appeared to be affiliated with Shen Yun. Deb did some gushing over the costumes, and as Deb admitted to being a designer, the reporter seemed interested. I kept an eye on the site for a couple of weeks to see if Deb had her 15 seconds of fame, but apparently the gushing wasn’t good enough. In fact, all those quoted had to virtually admit to having a most singularly positive experience, as well as considering converting their political positions to those resonant with traditional Chinese culture.
I exaggerate only a little.
I also surveyed their site very briefly; it was painfully pro-Trump. I read a couple of columns, which were written in what has become the traditional and magisterial conservative style, Don’t bother me with the facts, I’m handing down wisdom from on high. I had no patience for that.
Well, today I’ve learned that the parent of The Epoch Times, Epoch Media Group, has been banned from Facebook.
We also removed 610 accounts, 89 Facebook Pages, 156 Groups and 72 Instagram accounts that originated in Vietnam and the US and focused primarily on the US and and some on Vietnam, Spanish and Chinese-speaking audiences globally. This activity primarily focused on The BL, a US-based media company, and its Pages, which were operated by individuals in the US and Vietnam. The people behind this activity made widespread use of fake accounts — many of which had been automatically removed by our systems — to manage Pages and Groups, automate posting at very high frequencies and direct traffic to off-platform sites. Some of these accounts used profile photos generated by artificial intelligence and masqueraded as Americans to join Groups and post the BL content. To evade our enforcement, they used a combination of fake and authentic accounts of local individuals in the US to manage Pages and Groups. The Page admins and account owners typically posted memes and other content about US political news and issues including impeachment, conservative ideology, political candidates, elections, trade, family values and freedom of religion.
Although the people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation linked this activity to Epoch Media Group, a US-based media organization, and individuals in Vietnam working on its behalf. The BL-focused network repeatedly violated a number of our policies, including our policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior, spam and misrepresentation, to name just a few. The BL is now banned from Facebook. We are continuing to investigate all linked networks, and will take action as appropriate if we determine they are engaged in deceptive behavior.
The Epoch Times U.S. Publisher Stephen Gregory disputes the charge, claiming Epoch Times Vietnam, publisher of The BL, has no connection to Epoch Media Group. I’m sure the outraged howling will go on for quite a while, even if evidence of valid connections is given.
Such are the ways of the Trump cultists. When good is on your side, you’re allowed to indulge in any tactics you wish.
