Media Trends Executive

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

America's pullback from the global information war has left an opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to ramp up investments in state-backed propaganda. 

Why it matters: A domestic political agenda to cut government spending and prioritize free speech has led to the gutting of several U.S. programs that for decades slowed China's ability to spread its communist agenda.

"It's basically self-sabotage for domestic political reasons," said Bill Bishop, a China expert who authors the Sinocism newsletter on Substack.

Zoom in: China has been ramping up its investments in propaganda outside of the mainland for years, but has faced challenges in Europe, Africa and the Global South trying to compete with U.S.-government-backed information and influence operations. Now, a slew of actions taken by the U.S. government and private sector has left the field wide open for exploitation. 

U.S. disinformation office closure: The State Department in April shut down the office that fought mis- and disinformation campaigns stemming from China, Russia and Iran, claiming the office restricted freedom of speech in the U.S. and globally.

Government-funded broadcasters dismantled: The administration has effectively gutted the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the outlets it oversees, including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and others.

In the past few months, China's state radio has added dozens of new radio frequencies previously used by RFA and has increased its own broadcasting frequencies in the area to fill the void, per the Washington Post. 

USAID shuttered: The closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development has made it easier for China to set up tactical influence operations through infrastructure projects in developing countries. 

Content moderation rules loosened: Pressure on U.S. tech giants to relax moderation has made it easier for foreign state-backed media to cheaply and efficiently spread mis- and disinformation globally. Some platforms, most notably X, have stopped labeling state media accounts altogether.

Tech blackouts haven't been reciprocated: The failure to enforce a TikTok ban law in the U.S. for months speaks to the broader unwillingness by the Global West to fully cut off Chinese consumer tech the same way China has done for U.S. tech on the mainland, leaving it more vulnerable to data security breaches and content manipulation. 

The big picture: For decades, China's propaganda efforts mostly centered on spreading a positive image of the CCP to its citizens at home and overseas. That's changing.

Post-COVID, the CCP has focused more on spreading disinformation strategically targeting its adversaries, mirroring efforts long championed by Russia and Iran. 

Ahead of the 2024 election, for example, a Chinese influence operation spread anti-Western sentiment using fake accounts posing as American citizens.

China has also taken measures to coordinate more closely with Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Reality check: China is still new to these types of strategic disinformation campaigns, but its nascent efforts are a harbinger of what's to come, Bishop said.

One notable shift in Beijing's propaganda strategy has been investing in a more decentralized approach.

The CCP has recently invested heavily in building provincial and city-level outposts for foreign propaganda — called international communication centers — that can support more sophisticated foreign-targeted campaigns than a centralized operation in Beijing.

The bottom line: Asked why the U.S. would cede so much ground to China in an information war being amplified by the ascendance of artificial intelligence, Bishop blamed U.S. arrogance.

"It's just a kind of an arrogance on the U.S. side that the Chinese can't do it, when — in fact — actually the Chinese are world-class at this kind of stuff."

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U.S. cedes propaganda war to China

Cutting government spending and prioritizing free speech has gutted several U.S. programs that for decades slowed China's ability to spread its agenda.

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U.S. cedes propaganda war to China

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