With the internet, information can travel in the speed of light, reaching the most far-end of the world without a hassle.
While in the digital age, information is abundance, and that there is no end to the stream of data, what really matters during the time that information is too much for anyone to consume, is the legitimacy of the data.
Is the information someone of something delivers the truth, or not?
This time, it's revealed that China is using foreign social media influencers to push their message.
These people are like brand ambassadors, working to represent China in a positive light, helping to increase awareness of its presence and prowess.
But more importantly, these influencers are literally hired to help spread their propaganda.
China and the U.S. cannot be anymore different.
While the former is the powerhouse of the East, the latter is the mighty nation of the West.
For this reason, the geopolitical landscape between the two countries is complex. The interactions and dynamics between these major players have far-reaching implications, and for more than many times, both countries find themselves in a competitive relationship, both economically and strategically.
While the two countries are never at war, on the internet, it's more like a bloodbath.
With China's internet restricted by the Great Firewall of China, and that information are carefully controlled, the government has the capacity to push forward messages they think is right, and obscure what isn't necessary.
As a result of this, pretty much all of Western-made and influenced tech companies cannot have a presence in mainland China. This way, citizens in China are bound to use alternatives, and China's own apps and services.
In other words, information from outside is filtered.
But this doesn't apply the other way around. China allegedly use influencers on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to help them push government-curated messages outside of China, to their fans and followers all over the world.
"Through my lens, I will take you around China, take you into Vica’s life!" said Vica Li, who claims to be a "life blogger" and "food lover" who wants to teach her fans about China so they can travel the country with ease.
While her lens are made to promote China, they can be controlled by the CGTN, the Chinese-state run TV network where she has regularly appeared in broadcasts, and is listed as a digital reporter on the company’s website.
So while Vica Li told her audience that she "created all of these channels on her own," her Facebook account shows that at least nine people are managing her page.
Another influencer, Jerry Kowal, a Shanghai-based American video blogger, was one of those people who praised China for its COVID-19 solutions.
Whereas Western media showed how strict the country was, Kowal said that he felt "happy."
"I feel a sense of freedom," he said, adding that China is "the most organized" COVID-19 prevention in the world.
Jessica Zang, another influencer, describes herself as a video creator and blogger who hopes to present her followers with “beautiful pics and videos about life in China.”
In one of her videos, Zang interviews foreigners in China who describe their thoughts about the Chinese Communist Party, and insist that they’re not surveilled by the government the way outsiders might think.
"We really want to let more people [...] know what China is really like," she said to her viewers.
Li, Kowal and Zang are only three out of hundreds of foreign online influencers whom China appears to be "cultivating" to speak up on behalf of the governing Chinese Communist Party, working to defend the country against Western propaganda, 'misinformation', and 'malicious oversea narratives'.
Together, these influencers have create more than a thousand videos, which collectively amplifies President Xi Jinping's message, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think-tank based in Canberra.
The influencers, which allegedly have connections to the Chinese government or its state media, are operating in 38 different languages, according to research from Miburo, a firm that tracks foreign disinformation operations.
And according to Associated Press, the network of influencers is just one part of China's rapidly growing influencer on Western-operated social media platforms.
Among the messages they try to convey, include post-COVID-19 information, Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, to Olympian Eileen Gu, an American who competed for China in the most recent Winter Games.
The influencer network allows Beijing to easily proffer propaganda to unsuspecting Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube users around the globe.
In all, most of China’s influencers use similar pitches, and follow similar patterns, which are apparently similar to how China wants to attract its audience around the world.
The alleged coordinated efforts seem to shape China's image that resemble what Xi Jinping has spoken openly.
As China continues to assert its economic might, it is using the global social media ecosystem to expand its already formidable influence.
The country has quietly built a network of social media personalities who parrot the government’s perspective in posts seen by hundreds of thousands of people, operating in virtual lockstep as they promote China’s virtues, deflect international criticism of its human rights abuses and advance Beijing’s talking points on world affairs like Russia’s war against Ukraine.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said in a statement, “Chinese media and journalists carry out normal activities independently, and should not be assumed to be led or interfered by the Chinese government.”
However, the two country's relations became warmer following Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to the U.S., where he met U.S. President Joe Biden for the APEC summit in San Francisco.
The warmth the two leaders showed is indirectly felt by citizens in China, and this is reflected on Chinese social media.
For most of its time, China's internet has seen nationalists and anti-West influencers. Every single time tensions rose between the two countries, China's internet would be filled with patriotic messages and constant condemnation of the U.S..
But following the Biden-Xi summit, Chinese state media has delivered very positive messages to its domestic audience.
Read: How An Old Photo Of Xi Jinping Posing At The Golden Gate Bridge Becomes Trending On Social Media
Phrases such as "U.S.-China friendship," "beyond our differences," "mutual benefits" and "celebrate for cooperation" flooded social media.
But this deliberately pushed nationalists, pro-Russia and anti-West influencers to quickly adapt to the new condition.
"Today's notice: We're pausing on the anti-America narrative, please wait for further notice on when to resume," said one Weibo user to the platform.
Many netizens also posted sarcastic messages regarding the situation.
"So we're not anti-America anymore?" said another.
Ahead of key political meeting, and after meeting, China is known to scrub biased viewpoints about the country’s leaders, and this has happened many times in the past.
Back in 2011, China's ruling Communist Party approved a rare resolution that elevated President Xi Jinping's status in its history, which many considers this as a move that makes Xi Jinping on the same level as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
This makes Xi Jinping a leader that plays pivotal roles in shaping China's trajectory over the years.