Researchers from security firm Mandiant discovered dozens of news websites across the US, Europe, and Asia used in a pro-China propaganda campaign. In a report released on August 4th, 2022, the researchers claim they detected at least 72 fake websites and multiple bogus social media accounts related to the campaign. Mandiant attributes these sites to the Chinese public relations firm Shanghai Haixun Technology Co. and have named the campaign “HaiEnergy.” The sites and accounts publish biased stories on various current events, such as the recent trip of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Other stories pushed by the campaign use fabricated content. For example, social media accounts connected to the campaign have posted forged documents connecting Senator Marco Rubio and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon to a prominent critic of China. Following the posting of these illegitimate documents, multiple pro-China news sites picked up the story, citing the original post. This allowed Mandiant to link the news sites and social media accounts together, creating a web of propaganda sources across the world. While the operation “appears to be large and sophisticated,” the researchers doubt it was successful in advancing China’s agenda. The researchers stated that “despite the capabilities and global reach advertised by Haixun, there is at least some evidence to suggest HaiEnergy failed to generate substantial engagement.” It is important to note that this is not the only propaganda campaign being run by pro-China organizations. Another campaign, known as “Dragonbridge,” is distinct from HaiEnergy and uses accounts on authentic platforms to further their narrative, while HaiEnergy has crafted inauthentic websites and accounts. This campaign does pose a threat, but the lack of outside amplification essentially creates an echo-chamber with little chance of propaganda escaping to mainstream sources.