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Browse resources on authoritarian sharp power and its effects on the integrity of institutions and globalized spaces.
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Publication Date: September 28, 2023
How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Global
The PRC has sought to shape the global information landscape in its favor through information manipulation, intimidation, co-opting journalists and enabling digital authoritarianism with cutting-edge technology.
Source: Power 3.0
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Taiwan on the Frontline of China’s Information Operations
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Taiwan
Author: Ko Shu-Ling
Within Taiwan, PRC-backed media outlets have discredited pro-independence perspectives and increased polarization through disinformation. Beijing has relied on its state agencies, Taiwanese provincial governments, commercial media, and social media to amplify these information manipulation operations.
Source: Observer Research Foundation
Publication Date: October 19, 2024
China’s Information War in Africa
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Samir Bhattacharya; Yuvvraj Singh
China has adopted a three-pronged strategy in its information campaign in Africa. By training media professionals, investing in local media outlets, and selling technology to governments that enables tighter control over digital information, China is able to expand the reach of favorable narratives.
Source: China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe
Publication Date: May 4, 2022
Backing Russia on Ukraine: China’s Messaging in Central and Eastern Europe
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Romania, Slovenia, Europe, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia
Author: Ivana Karásková et. al.
PRC embassies and state-affiliated media have been promoting anti-NATO and pro-Russian narratives in nine Central and Eastern European states. The messaging is centered upon the war in Ukraine, seeking to undermine the United States, European Union, and NATO while building support for China and Russia.
Publication Date: March 23, 2023
China, Russia Target Audiences Online With Deep Fakes, Replica Front Pages
Authoritarian Country: China, Russia
Affected Region: Global
Author: Liam Scott
Concern has grown over Russia and China’s use of AI to impersonate trusted international media outlets and personalities in bids to manipulate information around the globe. Researchers anticipate the volume and quality of deep fakes to intensify, contributing to a further erosion of trust in media.
Source: Power 3.0
Publication Date: June 27, 2024
Caught Between Two Giants: How Mongolia’s Democracy Can Counter Authoritarian Propaganda
Authoritarian Country: China, Russia
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Mongolia
Author: Batsugar Tsedendamba
In Mongolia, the PRC and Russia have launched aggressive propaganda campaigns and sought to suppress negative media regarding their activities. Beijing-affiliated content has promoted the CCP’s economic model, whereas Kremlin-backed media has focused on promoting anti-American and anti-West stances.
Publication Date: June 27, 2024
China’s Influence Operations in the South Asian Region
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Author: Sanchaly Bhattacharya
Through the Belt and Road Initiative and Free Trade Agreements, the CCP has been using economic investment and coercion to further its foreign policy goals in South Asia. A multilayered propaganda system has contributed to this effort, which includes state-controlled media and academic partnerships.
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
Chinese Activist Missing From Vientiane After Launching Anti-Censorship Campaign
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Laos
Author: Gao Feng, Xiaoshan Huang, Chingman
A Chinese free-speech activist based in Laos was labeled missing after launching an anti-censorship campaign targeted at China. The Chinese government has targeted dissidents abroad using tactics of transnational repression, seen through both physical and online harassment.
Source: Time Magazine
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
China’s Online Influence Campaign in Latin America
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay
Author: Vera Bergengruen
Spanish-language social media accounts tied to the state-owned China News Service indicated a growing Beijing-backed influence operation in Latin America. These accounts have sought to circumvent Twitter’s state-media labeling policy to spread pro-China content to Latin American audiences.
Source: Foreign Policy
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Taiwan’s Election Showed China’s New Disinformation Tactics
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Taiwan
Author: Rishi Iyengar
Ahead of Taiwan’s presidential election, CCP-linked disinformation increasingly targeted domestic and local issues pertinent to Taiwanese voters. This creates serious implications not just for Taiwan, but the numerous other countries holding elections in 2024.
Publication Date: February 8, 2024
Chinese Firm Helps Websites Push Pro-Beijing Content
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Global
A Chinese public relations firm, Haimai, has posed as local media outlets in countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America to spread pro-Chinese content. The large firm published news reports in multiple languages on politics, economy, culture, current affairs, and sports.
Publication Date: December 29, 2023
Where Did Taiwan’s Fake Presidential Election Poll Come From?
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Taiwan
Author: Zhuang Jing, Dong Zhe
The Taiwan-based news outlet, Fingermedia, has been accused of releasing fabricated poll results ahead of the 2024 Taiwan elections. Despite the faulty research methods and Fingermedia’s links to the Chinese Communist Party, the poll results went viral in Taiwan and reached some Chinese audiences.
Publication Date: April 1, 2022
From East with Love: Dissecting Pro-China Bias in Czech and Slovak Alternative Media
Authoritarian Country: China, Russia
Affected Region: Europe, Czechia, Slovakia
Author: Veronika Blablová et. al.
‘Research found confluence of Sino-Russian narratives in alternative media in Slovakia and Czechia, particularly regarding Hong Kong and Taiwan. The articles localized issues to domestic audiences and amplified Chinese and Russian perspectives at the expense of local views.
Source: New York Times
Publication Date: November 26, 2023
Can Taiwan Continue to Fight Off Chinese Disinformation?
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Taiwan
Author: Tiffany Hsu, Amy Chang Chien, Steven Lee Myers
China has increased efforts to spread disinformation in Taiwan ahead of the democracy’s January 2024 elections. Taiwan’s experience as a top target for foreign influence campaigns has prepared civil society, government actors, and the public to counter China’s increasingly advanced campaigns.
Source: New York Times
Publication Date: November 3, 2023
In a Worldwide War of Words, Russia, China and Iran Back Hamas
Authoritarian Country: China, Iran, Russia
Affected Region: Global
Author: Steven Lee Myers, Sheera Frenkel
Russia, China, and Iran have launched information campaigns to amplify messaging from Hamas’s online propaganda efforts. Outlets including Russia’s Sputnik India and RT en Español have echoed anti-western rhetoric and coopted anti-imperial messages to influence audiences across the Global South.