How China uses YouTube influencers to cover up crimes against humanity. In conversation with Daria Impiombato

interview

English

Beautiful, almost kitschy images of idyllic life in the rural Chinese countryside, drone shots of the unspoilt landscape, home preparation of traditional noodles, hospitality and openness. All this is accompanied by a welcoming commentary from a young female protagonist whose appearance meets stereotypical expectations of feminine beauty. In recent years, these images have flooded the internet in searches for information about Xinjiang. This autonomous region, situated in northwest China, is home to the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority that has lived here for centuries. This area has long been a hotspot of ethnic tension. In recent years, the region has witnessed multiple unsettling violent incidents, which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attributes to Islamic extremism and ethnic separatism. The government’s response to these events has been unequivocal – transforming the region into a high-tech police state. Idyllic images of the landscape are thus met with strict surveillance, omnipresent police checkpoints, facial recognition CCTV cameras, so-called re-education facilities, ethnic cleansing, victimisation and human rights violations. Amid ongoing reports of oppression and forced assimilation of Uyghur Muslims, the CCP is aggressively working to whitewash this crackdown through orchestrated social media propaganda. Through extensive analysis of digital content, Daria Impiombato, together with her team, has uncovered how the Chinese government is exploiting digital platforms and leveraging social media influencers to propagate a sanitised narrative of harmony in Xinjiang. By analysing almost 1800 videos posted by Chinese influencers depicting the Xinjiang region, they found that these accounts strategically inundate YouTube with idyllic lifestyle content showcasing tourism, local cuisine and culture. These emotional viral videos portray a Potemkin “real Xinjiang” that contradicts credible reports of atrocities and oppression against Uyghurs. By enlisting social media influencers and leveraging data-driven distribution tactics, China has crafted a sophisticated digital media campaign to overwrite the human rights narrative on its own terms, promoting CCP agendas and values outside its main sphere of influence. We talked to Daria about how authoritarian regimes manipulate global social media to further their agendas, obscuring dissent and suffering.

interview A.I. technology propaganda torture

22. 9. 2023

3/4 magazine

Bratislava, Slovensko

10

https://34.sk/en/ako-cina-vyuziva-influencerske-ucty-na-youtube-na-zastieranie-zlocinov-proti-ludskosti-v-dialogu-s-dariou-impiombato