Chinese Agents ‘Amplified’ Early Lockdown Rumors

“The alarming messages came fast and furious in mid-March, popping up on the cellphone screens and social media feeds of millions of Americans grappling with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic,” the New York Times reports.

“Spread the word, the messages said: The Trump administration was about to lock down the entire country.”

“Since that wave of panic, United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms… The amplification techniques are alarming to officials because the disinformation showed up as texts on many Americans’ cellphones, a tactic that several of the officials said they had not seen before.”