At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

Reuters identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation. Almost all were created in the summer of 2020 and centered on the slogan #Chinaangvirus – Tagalog for China is the virus.

  • @djsoren19
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    fedilink
    485 months ago

    Wonderful to see our country is continuing our tradition of nonsensical psy-ops designed to exploit a tragedy and inflict as much harm as possible. I’m glad there’s no consequences for a nation abusing their power in such an egregious manner.

    • @irreticent@lemmy.world
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      fedilink
      35 months ago

      I’m glad there’s no consequences for a nation abusing their power in such an egregious manner.

      Sarcasm aside, the no consequences part is especially troubling when there’s also the American Service-Members’ Protection Act (United States federal law enacted 2 August 2002).

      The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, known informally as The Hague Invasion Act, is a United States federal law described as “a bill to protect United States military personnel and other elected and appointed officials of the United States government against criminal prosecution by an international criminal court to which the United States is not party.”

      TL;DR: If an international criminal court tries to hold military personnel or politicians accountable for war crimes the US military is required by law to invade the Hague and “rescue” the war criminal from prosecution.