/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/madsack/KACJ5HZIZBETLFNGPUKDAY3MTU.jpeg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "How influencers from China spread propaganda in the West")
Washington.On social media, Vica Li describes herself as a blogger who writes about life and food. She wants to bring her homeland closer to her 1.4 million followers and show that China is a safe country to travel to, she explains. “I will guide you through China and my life through my lens,” she announced in a January issue video on youtube and Facebook.
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But that lens may be controlled by the state television network CGTN. There, Vica Li regularly appeared in programs and is listed on the company’s website as a digital reporter. While she assures her followers that she set up all the channels herself, she will their facebook page managed by at least nine people, according to account information.
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Expand influence through social media
The portfolio of accounts is just one example of China’s growing influence on US social media platforms, research by the AP news agency revealed. The increasingly economically powerful country is using the global system of social media to further expand its influence. The authorities built a network of social media personalities, whose posts reflect the government’s positions. In virtual lockstep, they campaign for China, fend off criticism of human rights violations and spread Beijing’s view of global political affairs such as the war in Ukraine.
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Some reporters affiliated with the state media have positioned themselves as trending Instagram influencers or bloggers. The country also hired companies to recruit influencers. These are intended to propagate pre-formulated messages to raise China’s image among social media users.
In addition, the government benefits from a cadre of Western influencers who devote their English-language YouTube channels and Twitter feeds to pro-China positions. Among other things, it is about how China deals with the Muslim Uyghur minority or about the American freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who recently competed for China at the Winter Olympics. Some do not rule out Beijing paying for such content.
Make narratives believable
With the help of its influencer network, China is spreading its propaganda to social media users worldwide. According to the company Miburo, which researches foreign disinformation campaigns, at least 200 influencers with ties to the Chinese government or state media operate in 38 different languages.
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“You can see them trying to infiltrate each of these countries,” says Miburo President Clint Watts, a former FBI agent. “If you bombard an audience with the same narratives long enough, over time people will be inclined to believe them.” Apparently China has recognized the potential of female influencers in particular.
Russian perspective on the war in Ukraine
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is just one example. While the invasion was condemned as an attack on democracy, presented Li Jingjing her 21,000 YouTube subscribers had a different perspective: she posted videos in which Russian propaganda was repeated and misleading claims were spread – for example that the USA and NATO had provoked the Russian attack.
On YouTube, Li Jingjing describes herself as a traveller, storyteller and journalist. However, she does not make it clear that she works as a reporter for CGTN. Neither the TV network nor Vica Li and Li Jingjing responded to requests from the AP.
The AP identified dozens of similar accounts that collectively have more than 10 million followers and subscribers. The profiles often belong to reporters from Chinese state media, who have reorganized their accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube and now call themselves “bloggers”, “influencers” or “journalists”. The platforms are otherwise largely blocked in China.
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Label government funded accounts
Foreign governments have long attempted to use social media to covertly influence users, as they did in the 2016 US election. In response, tech companies like Facebook and Twitter promised to make users more aware of foreign propaganda by labeling state-funded accounts accordingly will.
“Extremist”: Russia blocks Facebook and Instagram
Russia blocks the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp is said to be unaffected.
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According to the AP research, however, this is not consistently the case for most Chinese influencers on social media accounts. Accounts like Li Jingjing and Vica Li are often labeled on Facebook and Instagram, but not on YouTube or TikTok. In the case of Vica Li, the reference is also missing on Twitter.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington emphasized that Chinese media and journalists work independently. There is no government leadership or interference.
Fake news about the corona virus
The one from South Africa Youtuber Winston Sterzel was among a number of English-speaking influencers contacted by a company called Hong Kong Pear Technology last year. They were emailed asking them to share a promotional video about China’s Hainan Province as a holiday destination on their channels. A propaganda video followed, stating that the corona virus had not first appeared in China but in North America.
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When he asked for proof of this claim, he never heard from Pear Technology again, says Sterzel. There is a very simple formula for success here: “It simply consists of praising the Chinese government, praising China and talking about how bad the West is.”
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