U.S. accuses China of using LinkedIn to recruit spies

(Image credit: iStock/zakokor)

published 31 August 2018

Be careful who you connect with on LinkedIn — you may be getting vetted to spy on the U.S. government.

U.S. counterintelligence chief William Evanina is warning against "super-aggressive" efforts by China to use LinkedIn as a way to connect with Americans who have access to government secrets, Reuters reports. Evanina told Reuters that China may be contacting thousands of LinkedIn users at a time and advised the company to take action.

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LinkedIn has taken down some accounts this month that appear to be involved in political organizations, The Financial Times writes, and the company has been working with U.S. law enforcement to handle Chinese attacks. Representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google have been invited to testify on Capitol Hill next week about the companies' efforts to combat political propaganda on social media.

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Marianne is The Weekâ€™s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.

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