Google promoted content from hijacked local news website posting pro-China content

Published June 25, 2025 7:00am ET



A website purporting to be a local news outlet operating out of a Long Island village has been taken over by anonymous actors pushing puff pieces about China, and Google promoted its work to users before removing it from its news platform, the Washington Examiner has learned.

The Farmingdale Observer’s website claims that it has been providing local news coverage out of its eponymous New York township since 1963. A glance at the outlet’s webpage, however, reveals no local news coverage and a flood of clickbait content. Nestled among the miscellaneous clickbait are several articles advancing narratives similar to those published by outlets run by the Chinese Communist Party.

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