FAKE NEWS: Made in China.

In light of the recent revelations that divisive and inflammatory websites and Facebook pages were run out of Russia ahead and after the 2016 United States presidential election, journalists and researchers have paid little attention to biased news websites targeting audiences in the U.S. run out of countries other than Russia.

One such case study is 4thmedia.org, a China-based media outlet run by Kiyul Chung, a visiting professor at China’s Tsinghua University’s Journalism and Communication School in Beijing. The media outlet does operate in what seems to be an official connection to state university, but it is not clear whether the Chinese Communist Party is connected to the 4th Media.

4thmedia.org started out as antiCNN.com, a Chinese youth website launched in 2008 by a Tsinghua University graduate Rao Jin, who in 2015 spoke at a Communist Youth League of China event and worked with a Communist Party-sponsored rap group named CD Rev. The antiCNN.com website was created in response to what the website’s creators perceived as biased and prejudiced reporting on unrest in Tibet by Western media outlets. AntiCNN.com amassed significant support in China and, according to the website’s managers, grew from 100,000 to 100 million monthly visitors in less than two years.

I’m dubious of any statistics coming out of China, but it is interesting that while Russia has been taking the heat, Beijing has kept its head down.

Anyway, it’s a lengthy article, but you might find it worth your time.