Meta Platforms Inc. released its last threat report of the year today, with the company saying it discovered a China-based network that spread lies relating to the origin of COVID-19.

The disinformation campaign goes back to July this year when a Facebook post by a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards criticized the U.S. government. “WHO sources and a number of fellow researchers complained that they had endured enormous pressure and even intimidation from the U.S. side,” said the post, adding that the U.S. was “obsessed with attacking China” relating to the origins of the virus.

The problem was, Edwards was a made-up character posing as a scientist. The account belonged to a Chinese network, said Meta, one which encompassed 500 fake accounts, 20 pages, four groups, and 86 Instagram accounts. Meta also said that “Chinese government officials began interacting with the operation’s content.”

The company said that the Chinese cybersecurity firm Sichuan Silence Information Technology, as well as other real people, also started interacting with the fake post. “This is the first time we’ve seen an operation that included a coordinated cluster of state employees amplifying itself in this way,” said Ben Nimmo, Facebook’s leading disinformation expert.

In a blog post, Meta detailed other instances around the world in which coordinated inauthentic behavior has taken place recently. Such behavior included the Belarusian KGB, whose agents posed as activists and journalists on Facebook and criticized Poland over the Belarus-Poland border wrangle.

“These fictitious personas posted criticism of Poland in English, Polish, and Kurdish, including pictures and videos about Polish border guards allegedly violating migrants’ rights,” said Meta. In total, the company took down 41 Facebook accounts, four Instagram accounts, and five Facebook Groups related to this outfit.

At the same time, Meta removed 31 Facebook accounts, four Groups, two Facebook Events, and four Instagram accounts, all originating from Poland and that had Belarus as a target. Another network based in the Gaza strip consisted of 141 Facebook accounts, 79 Pages, 13 Groups and 21 Instagram accounts. It’s suspected the posts came from the group Hamas, with the content supporting Hamas and criticizing various aspects of Palestine such as its political leaders.

“It’s clear they’re not going to stop,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy, told the media today. “They’re just going to shift their tactics.”

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