EU says China behind 'huge wave' of Covid-19 disinformation

Brussels shifts position by accusing Beijing for first time of running false campaigns

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China has been accused by Brussels of running disinformation campaigns inside the European Union, as the bloc set out a plan to tackle a huge wave" of false facts about the coronavirus pandemic.

The European commission said Russia and China were running targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighbourhood, and globally". While the charge against Russia has been levelled on many occasions, this is the first time the EU executive has publicly named China as a source of disinformation.