They are on American soil, thousands of kilometers away from Beijing, but they are still being persecuted and harassed by the Chinese government. Journalist Jiayang Fan says she was overwhelmed by the threatening messages.

She has been the target of online threats since she covered pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong four years ago. More than 12 thousand messages on “Twitter” call him a traitor.

It is a coordinated effort with fake and anonymous accounts and this campaign is considered a spy camouflage.

“From the dimensions we can say that it is the largest disinformation network in the world,” said Darren Linvill, a professor at Clemson University.

Professor Linvill has been tracking the camouflaged spies for years, but has only now discovered that the vast disinformation campaign is linked to the Chinese government. “Thousands and thousands of messages are constantly repeated”, he said.

CNN’s review of court documents, social media reports and interviews with victims reveal a massive campaign of intimidation by the Chinese government targeting people on American soil.

“They threatened to kill me if I didn’t close my YouTube account,” said Jiajun Qiu, a former professor in China who lives in the US.

He released pro-democracy videos criticizing the Chinese government from his office in Virginia, responding to thousands of threatening tweets.

An extensive campaign of intimidation, which also involved artists to create original illustrations to haunt the victims.

“It’s a sophisticated effort. I’m shocked at the number of platforms where we come across this content,” said Linvill.

The US Department of Justice says some of the people behind this scare campaign are Chinese police. But a spokesman for the Beijing embassy in the US said that these accusations of American justice are fabricated and politically motivated as it claims that there is no concrete evidence.

Activist Chen Pokong says that during the pandemic, he organized a Zoom meeting with democracy supporters, in which Chinese police officers also entered, blocking the signal. The US State Department warns that the Chinese government is spending billions of dollars every year to manipulate information abroad. If this is not opposed, it can give a new shape to the global panorama of information.

“The blood of a communist party is propaganda,” said James Rubin, DASH special representative.