Social media trolls as faux third-party agents of image repair: China’s disinformation campaign and statecraft in the Daryl Morey affair

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines trolls affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that targeted conversations around former Houston Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey, who tweeted support for Hong Kong protests and apologized in October 2019. Researchers coded 5,800 tweets to inform a machine-learning approach examining a corpus of over 163,000 tweets. Findings suggested that a PRC disinformation campaign was organized as a faux third-party image repair effort that sought to force an apology, deprive Morey of support, discourage future image threats, and shape public understanding. This effort used provocation, bolstering, barnacle, redirection, and attack the accuser. While apologies are generally held to be restorative in image repair and statecraft literature, Morey’s apology was a turning point that rallied opposition to the PRC and support for democracy and Morey. Implications include insight into the prevalence, strategies, and efficacy of PRC trolls, as well as recommendations for social media practitioners.