Key Points
French agency Viginum uncovered a network of fake news websites allegedly linked to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.
Investigators found thousands of articles repurposed from CGTN and modified using AI tools before being distributed through multilingual websites.
Technical evidence, including domain registrations, cloud hosting records and digital traces, was used to connect the network to China.
VIGINUM, A FRENCH GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY, has exposed a network of counterfeit Chinese news websites that have been propagating pro-Chinese content across the world. The investigation operation — codenamed “Fawn Mianju” — was helmed by the French investigative agency and exposed a network of the fake websites that links back to China Global Television Network (CGTN). CGTN is the state-controlled broadcaster under the Chinese Communist Party in the country.
Viginum is France's premium agency tasked with detecting and countering foreign digital interference and state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. The operation was announced by French authorities on June 4, 2026.
The fake Chinese website were primarily launched in June 2025 and posed as independent news outlets in various languages like French (“Actu Méridien”), English, Spanish (“Amigo News”), and Vietnamese.
Primarily, the websites posted one sided pro-Beijing narratives that aimed to influence youngsters residing in western countries and French-speaking regions of Africa. The content praised China’s efforts in aviation and artificial intelligence (AI), its role as a champion of the Global South, and its commitments to ecological transition. The content would also emphasize on strategic and diplomatic alliances, highlighting the supposed advantages for nations like France in aligning with Chinese interests. One article across the network criticized a France 2 television report on the treatment of Uyghurs in China.
The fake websites network operated via sophisticated automation. Investigators uncovered that out of over 3000 articles published by the CGTN in late 2025, around 2300 were repurposed and lightly rephrased for the fake news network within an hour of publication by CGTN. The fake news network used language learning models (LLM) and other AI tools to alter the original content to adapt and alter it to youth’s preference.
The French investigative agency also undertook Stylometric analysis — that is statistical measurement of linguistic styles — of the published propaganda materials. The analysis revealed a clear reduction in the natural variation of sentence lengths and punctuation typical of human writing, providing strong indicators of semi-automated AI involvement.
Investigators also found technical evidence that linked the news network to China. The domains of the fake websites were registered in Beijing and hosted on Alibaba cloud.
The sites used a distributed architecture across multiple servers and paid SEO plugins, pointing towards substantial resources being available to them. An administrator of the “Actu Meridien” website left traces of his login credentials, which allowed French authorities to trace him. His identity was revealed as a senior project manager working in CGTN Digital, the network’s digital arm. A GitHub profile of the administrator was also found, which revealed that he had done extensive work on LLM integration for automated content generation, including digital keys for directly connecting websites to AI systems.
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The fake news network also had a simultaneous social media operation which functioned via platforms like Facebook and Threads. The websites’ coordinated accounts on these social media platforms ran online campaigns that targeted users in across 89 countries. The reach of these campaigns, however, remained limited with individual reports getting around 15,000 views.
In summer of 2025, an investigation by an American Cybersecurity Firm called Graphika exposed 11 of these fake websites and related accounts. Viginum’s detailed investigation, which spanned over several months, provided substantial evidence that linked these fake news websites to the Chinese broadcast network. Interactions with these accounts and campaigns appear inauthentic, with a majority of being concentrated in Africa’s Burundi country. Several sites, including "Actu Meridien," have been inactive for months.
The investigation has pulled back the curtain on Beijing’s rigorous efforts to undertake covert operations to influence young minds with pro-China content. It also underscores the deliberate usage of AI tools for propaganda dissemination in Western and African digital spheres.
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