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posted by martyb on Monday July 08 2019, @06:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the RT-prime? dept.

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2019/0703/China-is-ramping-up-its-media-abroad-and-not-just-in-Chinese

The campaign involves not just promoting pro-Beijing information, but discouraging negative reports. Censorship extends into social media, and is strengthened by Chinese platforms' suppression of content that authorities deem negative. For example, some U.S. citizens have recently had messages or entire accounts censored on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat, owned by the firm Tencent.

"It's quite shocking to me that China's Great Firewall is coming to the U.S. in digital form," says George Shen, a technology consultant from Newton, Mass., who had his WeChat accounts banned last month. "It's a very stealthy, sophisticated censorship. ... They are filtering out your messages without even telling you," he says.

Bankrolled with billions of dollars of government funds, the strategy goes beyond establishing Chinese media entities abroad, to leasing or purchasing foreign news outlets and hiring foreign reporters. This tactic, known as "borrowing a boat to go out on the ocean" – or buying a boat, as the case may be – is aimed at offering a cloak of credibility.

Even as China expands its channels to American audiences, it is increasing restrictions on U.S. media in China. Last month, Chinese authorities blocked several more U.S. media outlets from the internet in China, including the websites of The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and NBC News.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @06:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @06:08AM (#864879)

    Of course, Hollywood has been communist for a century. Perfect allies.