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Report: Twitter Backlash at Daryl Morey Was From Bots & Pro-China Trolls

Listen to Wall Street Journal columnist Ben Cohen comment on a recent story his publication ran that documented the social media backlash against Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey after his ‘FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, STAND WITH HONG KONG’ tweet became one of the most notorious tweets in the history of Twitter.

Cohen says the ‘outrage’ against Morey from China was staggering, but a closer look revealed the vast majority of the horrific responses were either from fake news bots with 0 followers, or state-bought human trolls who were running fake accounts that were just created.

The subject of Hong Kong's autonomy has been one of the most polarizing subjects in East Asia since the British gave up rule of the region in 1997. Morey's tweet came right on the heels of the NBA sending the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets over to Shanghai to compete in two preseason games.

Lakers superstar LeBron James blasted Money for being 'misinformed' and 'not educated' before sending the tweet, which was met with near-unanimous contempt from Americans accusing LeBron of siding with the intolerant Chinese government.

Check out the video above as Cohen discusses with Rich Eisen how this story reeks of involvement from the Chinese government, who apparently attempted to dox Morey into submission on Twitter.