In January, the United States officially determined that China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and ethnic and religious minority groups who live in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. (The Chinese government denied this assertion, calling it a lie.)
The US State Department has previously estimated as many as 2 million Uyghurs, as well as members of other Muslim minority groups, have been detained in internment camps in the region.
Facebook did not point the blame directly at the government in Beijing but said the hackers “had the hallmarks of a well-resourced and persistent operation.” (Hackers linked to the Chinese government previously hacked iPhones and Android devices to target Uyghurs.)
The hacking groups identified as being behind the latest campaign are known in the cybersecurity industry as “Evil Eye” and “Earth Empusa” and have been involved in previous spying campaigns, according to Facebook.
Facebook’s announcement comes a day before CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to appear before Congress, alongside the heads of Twitter and Google. Zuckerberg is expected to be asked about the role his platform may have played in fueling the January 6th riot at the US Capitol, among other issues.
Facebook and other social media platforms were widely criticized for allowing Russian trolls to pose as Americans online in the run-up to the 2016 election. Since then, Facebook has publicly called out some governments and other entities it finds using its platform for nefarious purposes.
This content was originally published here.