The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Computers => Topic started by: PeteS in CA on July 01, 2020, 10:46:52 pm
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China's influence via WeChat is 'flying under the radar' of most Western democracies
https://www.zdnet.com/article/chinas-influence-via-wechat-is-flying-under-the-radar-of-most-western-democracies/ (https://www.zdnet.com/article/chinas-influence-via-wechat-is-flying-under-the-radar-of-most-western-democracies/)
China's WeChat, like most social networks, is a haven for disinformation and "fake news". Less well-known, at least in the West, is its role in mobilising Chinese diaspora communities to support particular political policies or people.
These activities are coordinated through a system known as the United Front, a network of party and state agencies that are responsible for influencing purportedly independent groups outside the Chinese Communist Party.
At the very top, the United Front Work Department is led by China's fourth most senior political leader, Wang Yang. President Xi Jinping and his family have been involved in United Front work for decades.
FB is banned in China and WeChat is the permitted equivalent. Most people there realize that anything posted to WeChat could be viewed by the government in more or less real-time. Xi the Pooh is watching.