A CNA investigation has identified a coordinated disinformation network operating on TikTok, using artificial intelligence to create female presenters who push false narratives about Singapore and Malaysia. The operation spans approximately 30 accounts and over 550 videos, which have collectively garnered more than 3 million views.
The system uses AI-generated or manipulated female personas, combined with reused voices and scripts, to create the appearance of multiple independent commentators. Analysts found that 98% of the content was assembled this way. The narratives often mix real events with fabricated claims, such as a video falsely asserting that Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan begged other countries not to bypass the nation's port.
The campaign employs a strategy of using genuine news as a hook to introduce misleading claims. For instance, it seized on the operational status of China's Hainan Free Trade Port to falsely claim Singapore's port dominance would collapse, despite the port handling a record 44.66 million containers in 2025.
Experts state the goal appears to be eroding public trust and fracturing social cohesion. The use of attractive, AI-generated presenters is a known tactic to increase engagement and trust. The short-form, high-volume nature of TikTok allows repetitive narratives to be pushed across different accounts, making them feel familiar and more plausible to viewers.
Analysis revealed shared audio tracks, lip-sync errors, and presenters with unnaturally pinned heads or torsos. Accounts also followed similar naming templates and engaged in "burst posting." While CNA could not identify a specific operator, the coordinated behavior points to a single production line.
Experts suggest that combating this requires greater awareness of the methods of coordinated influence operations, rather than just trying to spot individual AI artifacts, which is becoming increasingly difficult.