Trolls renew social media attacks on Hong Kong’s protesters

Anti-government protesters run away from tear gas during a protest in Hong Kong, China. Researchers have found evidence suggesting that digital activity targeting the Hong Kong protests continued after the earlier removals. — Reuters

Just months after Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc said they had removed hundreds of accounts used to undermine Hong Kong’s protest movement, the social media trolls are back.

Researchers at Astroscreen, a startup that monitors social media manipulation, have identified suspicious accounts that suggest take downs in August didn’t stop online activity targeting the protesters. Instead, some accounts with suspected links to the Chinese government that were removed have been replaced by different ones, engaging in similar types of tactics, the researchers said.