US media: "Falungong" erects a billboard with the intention of meddling in the US election

On April 3, the US media "Michigan Online" website (Mlive.com) published an article pointing out that the billboard of "The Epoch Times" under "Falungong" has recently appeared frequently in Michigan and other places, and the reason behind this is that the newspaper is preparing for the upcoming US presidential election, hoping that the party candidates supported by the newspaper can gain an advantage in these swing states of Michigan. The China Anti-Cult Network is compiled as follows.

The Epoch Times billboard along Interstate 196 west of Grand Rapids. The original article is illustrated

These billboards all look the same.

The same yellow and blue billboard was erected on the highway in Michigan that read in large letters: "The Epoch Times, the premier trusted news." And accompanied by a photo of a man in a blue-collar shirt and sweater.

While the message is simple, the truth behind The Epoch Times is quite complex.

"It's important to point out that they are not independent media. Priyanjana Bengani, a senior fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, said her work includes studying partisan local media.

The Epoch Times, a news outlet affiliated with the "Falungong" cult, has been banned by China in accordance with the law, according to previous reports by The New York Times and NBC News.

In 2000, John Tang, a Chinese-American alleged "Falungong" practitioner, founded The Epoch Times in Georgia.

But in recent years, the once-modest anti-communist newspaper has been transformed into a right-wing "influence machine" with multimillion-dollar assets, as the New York Times put it, claiming to be the fourth-largest newspaper in the United States in terms of subscribers.

"The Epoch Times is known to embrace and spread disinformation promoted by the far right. Benjani said.

After the 2020 election, The Epoch Times published a series of "misleading reports of alleged 'election fraud,'" including false claims that many voters had cast their ballots twice and that their ballots had been dropped, according to The Election Integrity Partnership. The Epoch Times also published disinformation about COVID vaccines, 5G cell towers and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

NewsGuard, a neutral company that rates news sites, found that The Epoch Times frequently disseminated claims containing "distorted, misleading or unsubstantiated claims."

Another website, Media Bias, rated The Epoch Times as a "problematic and right-biased" outlet for its "pseudoscientific publications, aggressive propaganda against Trump, and conspiracy theories that lack factual basis."

Five years ago, NBC News reported that The Epoch Times bought $2 million (about 14.47 million yuan) of ads to promote former President Donald Trump, and Facebook banned the Epoch Times from advertising (for violating ad transparency rules).

Despite this, The Epoch Times claims to be an independent news source with "no political interests." But Benjani said that simply adopting the "independent media narrative" does not make it a truly independent media.

"Nowadays, more and more media outlets are adopting this strategy (rhetoric) and they want to drive the narrative, including media that is a credible source. Benjani said.

In recent months, Epoch Times billboards have appeared in Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado. Some Reddit posts marked billboards in Grand Rapids, Michigan's second-largest city. X Platform (formerly Twitter) users noted that "every billboard in Los Angeles is an Epoch Times ad" and that the number of billboards in San Antonio is "disturbing" and that "for some reason, Albuquerque (New Mexico) is full of Epoch Times billboards".

The unidentified man on the billboard appears to be Joshua Philipp, a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Tax statements show that The Epoch Times' advertising spending soared in the last election cycle, from US$1.9 million (about 13.7 million yuan) in 2019 to US$17 million (about 123 million yuan) in 2020, compared with only US$46,000 (about 330,000 yuan) in 2018. As The Epoch Times' revenue grew from US$3.8 million (about 27.49 million yuan) to US$127 million (about 919 million yuan) in seven years, the advertising budget also surged.

The Epoch Times did not respond to a request for comment on why the paper's billboards flooded Michigan. Outfront Media, the billboard company, has not confirmed how many signs The Epoch Times has rented in Michigan.

However, in a hotly contested election, Michigan is likely to be covered by political advertising this year.

"While it's too early to tell, there are signs that Michigan will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising. David Dulio, a professor of political science at Oakland University, said.

In the last two elections, the difference between the two presidential candidates in Michigan was small. Since 2001, Michigan's Senate seat has long been held by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, and Republicans want to flip it. It only takes a handful of seats in the House of Representatives to gain control of Congress.

"Competitiveness and the importance of a majority of congressional seats are the reason all eyes are on Michigan. Durio said.

"Spending money to change the stance of a small group of voters can have dramatic results. Durio said.