Facebook and Twitter accused China of seeking to undermine protesters in Hong Kong through their social media platforms.
Twitter said Monday it removed more than 900 accounts that were “deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground.”
The social media giant said many of the accounts were accessed using VPNs because Twitter is blocked in China.
Facebook said it removed seven pages, three groups, and five accounts involved in the state-backed activity after it received a tip from Twitter about the covert social media operation.
“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government,” the company said.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the last two months to demand greater political freedom. The demonstrations originally began in opposition to a controversial bill that would allow extradition of criminal suspects to the mainland.
Beijing has painted the demonstrators as a violent mob seeking to tear China apart.
