Category: Media
BBC Documentary Sparks More Reflective, Less Racist Discussion on Chinese Social Media
It took a few days, but the BBC Africa documentary "Racism for Sale," which showcased the trend of Chinese merchants selling offensive videos online that exploit Africans, finally made it over the Great Firewall and is now the subject of lively online discussions. ...
TRANSLATION: Please Stop Now! Stop Exploiting African Children!!!
"Africa Bob" (波布非洲) is a popular Chinese commentator and content creator about African issues on WeChat. The following is a summary translation of his post that reflects on the controversy about the exploitation of African (Malawi) children used to produce short form videos by Chinese merchants. ...
China’s Top Diplomat for Africa Vows to Crack Down on Offensive Videos After Meeting With Malawi FM
China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng, arrived in Lilongwe on Tuesday and tried to quell surging anger in the country over revelations in a new BBC documentary that showed how Chinese nationals in Malawi exploited children to produce offensive videos. ...
Insider Explains Why Exploitative Videos Exposed by BBC Will Continue to Flourish Unless Chinese Government Bans Them
Just as the algorithms on U.S. digital media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are all optimized to display the most outrageous, inflammatory content in pursuit of higher engagement, the same is true in China. The so-called "blessing videos" featured in ...
Malawi Foreign Minister: “We Are Disgusted, Disrespected and Deeply Pained”
Following a BBC Africa investigation, Malawian ministers condemned the practice of using young children to produce highly exploitative videos that are then sold on Chinese social media platforms. "We are feeling disgusted, disrespected, and deeply pained,"
Chinese Embassy in Malawi Responds to Video Controversy With Disingenuous Statement
The Chinese embassy in Malawi's response to the escalating controversy over the exploitative videos uncovered in a new BBC Africa documentary did little to appease critics. The brief statement, published only on its official Twitter account, broadly condemned racism ...
Chinese Social Media is Oddly Quiet About the Racism Accusations Uncovered in the BBC Documentary
Over the weekend, in the run-up to Monday's broadcast of the BBC documentary, some of the staff at the network were bracing for what they expected would be a forceful response from China's online supporters -- both Chinese and foreign. They ...
BBC Doc Tracks Origin of Racist “Shout-Out” Videos Featuring African Children
The BBC debuted a documentary investigating the origin of commissioned videos of African children being coached to recite messages in Chinese that have gone viral in China. These are frequently starkly racist and reveal the prevalence of anti-Black attitudes in China.
PLAN Base Story in Cambodia Fits Nicely With China Threat Narrative in U.S.
The Washington Post story is playing nicely in the United States, where suspicions about China's military ambitions are already quite pronounced. It's notable, however, that Senator Hagerty would consider the small base that the PLAN is purportedly building in Cambodia a ...
China is Failing Big Time in Its Effort to Get the Jerusalem Post to Unpublish Interview With Taiwan FM Joseph Wu
Chinese embassies around the world, particularly in small and middle-sized countries, are accustomed to using aggressive tactics with local media whenever they feel an outlet has violated one of Beijing's so-called "red lines" (particularly on issues like Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang). Threats of diplomatic retaliation are often ...