This just means that China will use bots on american social media for influence. Honsestly, considering Trump got elected, that is enough.
Dont think this will affect foreign influence by china much.
controlling the algorithm is a lot more subtle than using bots. it's pretty easy to notice bots and shills. it's harder to notice when it's all humans with sincere beliefs, just that some beliefs are overrepresented.
>it's pretty easy to notice bots and shills
You only notice the bots that you notice. How do you know how many bots you encounter where you dont realize it is a bot? Knowing this number is necessary to make the claim that claim, but it is fundamentally unknowable.