A worrying report about China: Western influencers are apparently being used by Beijing to spread propaganda on social media.
Beijing should increasingly use social networks such as Facebook and Instagram to manipulate the views of people abroad – the Facebook company Meta warned of this in a report last week. China is the third most common source of foreign influence after Russia and Iran, it said.
New research from an Australian think tank in Canberra is also making people sit up and take notice: In a report, the ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) describes how foreign social media stars spread the content of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in their networks. The influencers therefore come from countries such as the USA, Great Britain or New Zealand. They use Chinese and Western platforms and sometimes have millions of followers.
For example, Jerry Kowal, an American video blogger based in Shanghai, is listed. Kowal knows exactly which messages resonate with the Chinese audience: He is followed by more than 26 million people on his Chinese channels.
At the height of the corona pandemic in 2021, the blogger flew back to China from San Francisco. Upon arriving at the airport in Shanghai, he railed against the U.S. response to the virus and praised China’s strict measures: “I’m happy. I feel free,” Kowal said in fluent Mandarin with an American accent. China has the best organized pandemic response in the world.
When asked about the report, the American blogger later told the Financial Times that his 2021 video about Covid regulation was not propaganda and was not influenced by Beijing.
The Australian institute ASPI puts the influencers’ reporting in a different light: It reports on a cohort of foreign minds who are being “cultivated” to advance Beijing’s propaganda strategy. This unified chorus of voices on social networks can spread the ideologies of the Communist Party (CCP) to a young audience more effectively than traditional media such as Chinese state television.
“Significant impact on the global information landscape”
“The ultimate goal is to protect the CCP-controlled culture, discourse and ideology from the dangers of foreign and free political expression, thereby preserving the party’s legitimacy,” the Australian experts’ report said.
The Australian Defense and Strategic Policy Institute warns that Beijing’s strategy could have a “significant impact on the global information landscape.” The increasing use of foreign influencers is making it increasingly difficult for platforms, foreign governments and users to distinguish between independent content and propaganda and thus protect the integrity of public discourse.
Competitions for “significant prize money”
Critical reporting about the government is censored on Chinese platforms. Instead, according to ASPI, it promotes the ideals of Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as “fundamental socialist values” and contributions that “increase the global influence of Chinese culture.” Influencers who toe the party line appear to be rewarded with success, while others have no chance of reaching a large audience.
But that’s not all. China’s systems for promoting social media stars are complex and difficult to grasp. According to the Australian report, protagonists usually do not receive detailed instructions about what they should produce. Instead, their creativity is influenced by a mix of incentives and controls. Among other things, the CCP organizes competitions for “significant prize money”.
International students would also be recruited at Chinese universities to build a “latent talent pool of young, multilingual, social media-friendly influencers.” A new media studio at Huaqiao University in Fujian province, for example, aims to bring in students from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other regions to “tell China’s story well.” In 2021, over 200 international students from 16 countries, including the USA and Ireland, took part in corresponding video shoots. Russian influencers in particular are used to strengthen ties with Moscow.
