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China Spreads Propaganda to U.S. on Facebook, a Platform it Bans at Home (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the china's-influence dept.

Paul Mozur, reporting for the New York Times: China does not allow its people to gain access to Facebook, a powerful tool for disseminating information and influencing opinion. As if to demonstrate the platform's effectiveness, outside its borders China uses it to spread state-produced propaganda around the world, including the United States (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternative source). So much do China's government and companies value Facebook that the country is Facebook's biggest advertising market in Asia, even as it is the only major country in the region that blocks the social network. A look at the Facebook pages of China Central Television, the leading state-owned broadcast network better known as CCTV, and Xinhua, China's official news agency, reveals hundreds of English-language posts intended for an English-speaking audience. Each quarter China's government, through its state media agencies, spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy Facebook ads, according to a person with knowledge of those deals, who was unauthorized to talk publicly about the company's revenue streams. China's propaganda efforts are in the spotlight with President Trump visiting the country and American lawmakers investigating foreign powers's use of technology to sway voters in the United States.

16 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Shocked! by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Come on people. That foreign adversaries would try to further their agendas using social networks is about a surprising as gambling in a Casablanca.

    I bet even "friendly" nations are doing this to some extent too.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Shocked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Also, is it any wonder that China blocks Facebook? This is why! China doesn't want to deal with foreign interference any more than anyone else does. So they block the channels that interference uses to propagate itself.

    2. Re:Shocked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Remember, FEC versus Citizens United effectively allowed bribery, because money is equivalent to free speech. It is no wonder why countries are legally paying for ads to change voter turnouts.

      To boot, FB is doing nothing illegal. They could be showing Daesh videos of people being barbecued and eaten alive, but there is nothing that can be done, as Daesh's money counts as free speech.

    3. Re:Shocked! by anegg · · Score: 4, Informative

      I would be *amazed* if the USA is not trying to further the US agenda (whatever that is) using social networks targeted at/in other countries. Is there much difference between Voice of America and such a practice?

    4. Re:Shocked! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would rather have foreign government propaganda than have American government censorship.

      Let's not forget that the major influence of the Russians on the American presidential election was their leaking of Hillary's collusion with the DNC ... which was the truth.

      Sure, Hillary might have won if the DNC collusion had remained secret ... but she also might have won if she had been more ethical and there had been no dirt to leak.

    5. Re:Shocked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You obviously are not aware of how Communist government works. First of all, it is a dictatorship. They call it that way themselves: "dictatorship of proletariat". No other party is allowed to exist. They rely on mind control for their existence (look at what happened at Russia after Gorbachev relaxed the regime). Censorship is the moving force in the country. Dissidents are being executed by a firing squad.

    6. Re:Shocked! by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      You obviously are not aware of how Communist government works. First of all, it is a dictatorship. They call it that way themselves: "dictatorship of proletariat". No other party is allowed to exist. They rely on mind control for their existence (look at what happened at Russia after Gorbachev relaxed the regime).

      The smart communist/dictatorial governments actually allow opposition parties to exist, they just severely neuter them. This preserves the appearance of democracy and participation and allows for an (exceptionally easy to monitor and control) outlet for dissent. When you combine requiring government approval for candidates on the ballots with the classic "the ballots don't make the votes, the counters do"(one of the best lines in Gangs of New York), control by the ruling party is still completely safe.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    7. Re:Shocked! by gnick · · Score: 2

      FB isn't a news source...

      I disagree. FB shouldn't be a news source. FB isn't a reliable news source. But, it's as close as many people get to following the news. It is their news source. It's just not a good one.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    8. Re:Shocked! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

      That is a silly argument. Should we have censored Watergate reporting because it only hurt one side? Should Woodward and Bernstein have been required to wait until they had some counterbalancing dirt on the Democrats?

      The Constitution says "no law" abridging free speech. It doesn't make an exception for "unbalanced" speech, nor does it make an exception for censorship of foreigners.

    9. Re:Shocked! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The issue (which a lot on the right gloss over and ignore-note that I am not necessarily calling you right wing)

      I did not vote for Trump, and I oppose pretty much everything he stands for. I am not defending Trump at all, I am defending the Constitution and the principle of freedom of expression. It is sad that so many people feel that is "right wing".

    10. Re:Shocked! by anegg · · Score: 2

      Upon reflection, one difference between Voice of America and the use of social media is obvious. A radio station like Voice of America is operated by a known entity, and the entity's bias can be judged along with the content of the messages. Social media postings may originate from unknown entities, making the entity's bias opaque and difficult to judge along with the message content.

      I doubt, however, that there is a blanket refusal by the USA (or other state actors) to use social media targeted at foreign populations for propaganda purposes just because of the difficulty of determining the originating entity and that entity's bias.

    11. Re:Shocked! by fafalone · · Score: 2

      What asymmetry of dirt... Trump's corruption, race baiting, unethical business practices, lack of intelligence, pathological narcissism, bragging about sexual assault, etc were all open uncontested facts. Indeed he basically bragged about how terrible he was. What would have brought symmetry with Clinton? What could anyone have possibly had that would have made anyone change their mind who hadn't already seen what was going on? These were the two worst candidates in living memory, neither suffered for lack of truthful dirt.

  2. Re:So who did Chinese propaganda on FB support? by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    Yes

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Re:Here comes the alt-right by Train0987 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It would make more sense that you're the Russian! spy sent here to make Democrats look like imbeciles. The Russians! collusion narrative fell apart a long time ago. Now it just looks like a Clinton campaign op meant to excuse her loss to the circus clown and giver her the nomination again 2020 on the premise that The Russians! stole it from her in 2016.

  4. Re:So who did Chinese propaganda on FB support? by Tailhook · · Score: 2

    Good question; China funded Bill's campaign and got MFN status for their money.

    It's non-candidate specific propaganda; the leftist world view of hegemonic America unjustly imposing it's will on others. More of the usual Blame America First BS we're all awash in 24/7/365.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  5. Of Course They Ban It by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    Of course China bans Facebook. Do you know how much propaganda is on that thing? You'd have to be an idiot to let all that shit into your country!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?