Reporters Without Borders: Non-political Facebook pages become Beijing's propaganda weapons
An investigation by Reporters Without Borders reveals that China's digital marketing firm 'No-Boundary Group' is using seemingly apolitical Facebook pages, such as those promoting health and motivational content, to subtly disseminate Beijing's political narratives, particularly targeting Taiwan. This tactic is identified as a form of cognitive warfare.
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- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 17:33
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 18:02 (28 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 27, 2026 at 18:15 (13 min after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency, Taipei, April 27) A new investigation released by Reporters Without Borders shows that Chinese digital marketing companies, potentially linked to official sources, are using seemingly apolitical Facebook fan pages—such as those featuring health or inspirational content—to occasionally insert Beijing's political narratives, forming a cognitive operation difficult for outsiders to detect.
Reporters Without Borders recently revealed that the Facebook page "50+ Health Life," which promotes health and wellness advice, published a lengthy analysis shortly after the U.S. joined Israel in a war against Iran in March, stating that Tehran does not need to militarily defeat Washington but should make the U.S. suffer. This stance is highly consistent with Chinese official media narratives. The post was subsequently deleted.
During the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, some Facebook fan pages originally focused on health, hobbies, and inspirational quotes began to spread politically charged messages, raising concerns about China's coordinated influence operations.
The investigation states that the Chinese digital marketing company "No-Boundary Group" controls hundreds of such fan pages, and periodically inserts posts aligning with Beijing's official stance, thereby sowing doubt in users' minds about Taiwan's policies. Such content often appears suddenly, sometimes after political tensions escalate; afterward, the page reverts to pushing lifestyle-related content, making these influence operations difficult to detect.
The "No-Boundary Group," headquartered in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, has for years attempted to influence the perceptions of Taiwanese people through Facebook fan pages that appear to be completely unrelated to politics.
In September 2025, a video circulated on the social media platform Threads claiming a child had fallen in the Taipei Metro with no bystanders offering help. Users later discovered the footage was actually filmed at a Hangzhou subway station. Wang Hong-en, a researcher at the U.S. RAND Corporation who has tracked political propaganda networks for years, further traced the account behind the post to the No-Boundary Group.
This investigation points out that the No-Boundary Group also promotes the sale of erectile dysfunction drugs through softcore pornographic fan pages on Facebook. Wang Hong-en believes there must be some connection between this company and the government. "Generally, Chinese websites cannot do both things at the same time—operating pornography sites and selling drugs—without official connections. So, I think it has at least some tacit understanding with the Chinese authorities."
In June 2020, the official media Qinhuangdao Broadcasting and Television Station announced a strategic partnership with the "No-Boundary Group." The investigation notes that such cooperation between a city-level media outlet and a private digital enterprise is uncommon. Four months later, officials from the Hebei Provincial Propaganda Department and the Cyberspace Administration visited the "No-Boundary Group" office.
An anonymous Taiwanese cybersecurity policy official told Reporters Without Borders: "China's disinformation campaigns have made some Taiwanese people feel that democracy equals chaos, and in that case, authoritarian rule is not an unacceptable alternative." This embedded operation in daily content has reached an increasingly undetectable scale.
The Taiwan National Security Bureau has listed the "No-Boundary Group" as one of the collaborators in China's attempts to launch cognitive warfare against Taiwan. The report "Analysis of CCP's Cognitive Warfare Tactics Against Taiwan in 2025" points out that the company operates accounts on platforms like Facebook, Threads, and X, with content mostly focusing on "non-political or soft topics," then intermittently inserting political messages. This shows that its communication strategy is to first expand reach and influence, then publish political posts to affect public perception. (Editors: Chang Shu-ling/Chiu Kuo-chi) 1150427
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(Central News Agency, Taipei, April 27) A new investigation released by Reporters Without Borders shows that Chinese digital marketing companies, potentially linked to official sources, are using seemingly apolitical Facebook fan pages—such as those featuring health or inspirational content—to occasionally insert Beijing's political narratives, forming a cognitive operation difficult for outsiders to detect.
Reporters Without Borders recently revealed that the Facebook page "50+ Health Life," which promotes health and wellness advice, published a lengthy analysis shortly after the U.S. joined Israel in a war against Iran in March, stating that Tehran does not need to militarily defeat Washington but should make the U.S. suffer. This stance is highly consistent with Chinese official media narratives. The post was subsequently deleted.
During the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, some Facebook fan pages originally focused on health, hobbies, and inspirational quotes began to spread politically charged messages, raising concerns about China's coordinated influence operations.
The investigation states that the Chinese digital marketing company "No-Boundary Group" controls hundreds of such fan pages, and periodically inserts posts aligning with Beijing's official stance, thereby sowing doubt in users' minds about Taiwan's policies. Such content often appears suddenly, sometimes after political tensions escalate; afterward, the page reverts to pushing lifestyle-related content, making these influence operations difficult to detect.
The "No-Boundary Group," headquartered in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, has for years attempted to influence the perceptions of Taiwanese people through Facebook fan pages that appear to be completely unrelated to politics.
In September 2025, a video circulated on the social media platform Threads claiming a child had fallen in the Taipei Metro with no bystanders offering help. Users later discovered the footage was actually filmed at a Hangzhou subway station. Wang Hong-en, a researcher at the U.S. RAND Corporation who has tracked political propaganda networks for years, further traced the account behind the post to the No-Boundary Group.
This investigation points out that the No-Boundary Group also promotes the sale of erectile dysfunction drugs through softcore pornographic fan pages on Facebook. Wang Hong-en believes there must be some connection between this company and the government. "Generally, Chinese websites cannot do both things at the same time—operating pornography sites and selling drugs—without official connections. So, I think it has at least some tacit understanding with the Chinese authorities."
In June 2020, the official media Qinhuangdao Broadcasting and Television Station announced a strategic partnership with the "No-Boundary Group." The investigation notes that such cooperation between a city-level media outlet and a private digital enterprise is uncommon. Four months later, officials from the Hebei Provincial Propaganda Department and the Cyberspace Administration visited the "No-Boundary Group" office.
An anonymous Taiwanese cybersecurity policy official told Reporters Without Borders: "China's disinformation campaigns have made some Taiwanese people feel that democracy equals chaos, and in that case, authoritarian rule is not an unacceptable alternative." This embedded operation in daily content has reached an increasingly undetectable scale.
The Taiwan National Security Bureau has listed the "No-Boundary Group" as one of the collaborators in China's attempts to launch cognitive warfare against Taiwan. The report "Analysis of CCP's Cognitive Warfare Tactics Against Taiwan in 2025" points out that the company operates accounts on platforms like Facebook, Threads, and X, with content mostly focusing on "non-political or soft topics," then intermittently inserting political messages. This shows that its communication strategy is to first expand reach and influence, then publish political posts to affect public perception. (Editors: Chang Shu-ling/Chiu Kuo-chi) 1150427
Choose to stand with facts; your every donation is a force to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First-Hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.
Keywords: