Facebook and Twitter recently took down over 1000 fake accounts that were being used by China to fuel political discord over the Hong Kong anti-police brutality protests. While some of the accounts shared pro-Beijing rhetoric in response to the Mulan boycott that was initiated by Hong Kong. Speaking of Mulan boycott, it all started last week after the film's protagonist Crystal Liu Yifei posted a message that supported the Chinese for the Hong Kong police force. her message brought about tremendous backlash within Hong Kong as well as among pro-democracy sympathisers overseas. Mulan First Poster: Liu Yifei's Avatar As Fa Mulan And Warrior Ping In This Brand New Look Is Spectacular! View Pic

Considering how there have been several accusations directed by the international human rights groups that the police brutality in Hong Kong is too inhumane and that their confrontation with protestors and the public have been excessively forceful, people are not happy with Yifei's opinion on the same. Twitter reportedly pulled down 936 troll accounts that were made to push conspiracy theories about the Hong Kong protestors. Mulan Teaser: The Live-Action Remake Looks So Cool That We’re Counting Down the 264 Days to Its Release

"These accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground," the company said in a statement. Twitter added that it has "reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation."

It has been recorded that some of the deleted accounts were of users based out of the United States. Even Facebook pulled down 16 pages and claimed that they believe the pages were linked to the same troll operation. Yiu came under fire for her message that read, "I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now," followed by, "What a shame for Hong Kong." The image had originally been created by the state-backed People's Daily. Liu added the hashtag "IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice" Will the protest against Disney's Mulan cause trouble for its box office earnings or will the problem die down by the time the film releases?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2019 11:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).