Foreign influencers used to whitewash Xinjiang abuses

Foreign social media influencers are being used by the Chinese Communist Party as part of a “global propaganda push” to whitewash human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, according to a report by an Australian think tank. Chinese state entities invite foreign social media creators on state-backed tours of the autonomous region and amplify video and other content that support “pro-CCP narratives,” according to the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

In the report released on Tuesday, the Canberra-based think tank said it identified at least 546 posts by Chinese state-controlled social media accounts that promoted Xinjiang-related content created by 13 foreign influencers.

The posts, spanning January 2020 and August 2021, included videos that depicted a “wholly positive image of life in Xinjiang” by focusing on the region’s food, culture and infrastructure, as well as more “overtly political” videos that disputed allegations of mass detention and forced labour.

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