China Intensifying Its Global Push for Media Influence

Journalists, commentators, civil society groups, regulators, technology firms—and to a lesser extent, policymakers—are contributing to the pushback through actions including investigations into opaque payments from China-linked entities to local elites, cancellations of content-sharing agreements with Chinese state news agencies, regulatory enforcement of broadcasting rules, and public condemnation of attempts by Chinese diplomats to intimidate journalists. Evidence of such resilience can be found around the globe—in newsrooms in Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines, in parliaments in Australia, Italy, and Kuwait, and in journalistic training programs in Tunisia, South Africa, and Nigeria.

“Many democracies are proving far from helpless in the face of Beijing’s media influence efforts,” said Sarah Cook, one of the report’s authors and Freedom House’s research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. “Journalists and civil society groups are creatively marshalling resources in ways that hinder the problematic dimensions of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts. But in many countries, harmful actions by political leaders or media owners are weakening democracy’s natural defenses against authoritarian influence. This is a critical moment. Governments and societies worldwide should increase transparency and protections for press freedom and free expression. More democracy, not less, is the answer to Beijing’s campaign to control news and information around the world.”

The new report offers the most comprehensive assessment to date of Beijing’s global media influence and the ways in which democracies are responding. It draws on media investigations, interviews, scholarly publications, Chinese government sources, and on-the-ground research by local analysts in 30 countries, which are spread across six regions and all rated Free or Partly Free in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World index. It includes in-depth case studies for each of the 30 countries, appraising the scale and scope of CCP media influence efforts and the strength of the local response, and classifies them as either Resilient or Vulnerable. The report also offers recommendations on how democracies can improve their performance.

Additional report findings:

·  The list of those contributing to Beijing’s influence efforts is expanding. The Hong Kong authorities, companies with close CCP ties like Huawei, local officials, and media executives outside China have joined Chinese diplomats and government representatives in attempting to suppress critical reporting or shape media narratives in Beijing’s favor. Tactics like cyberbullying by pro-CCP trolls and amplification of Chinese state-linked social media posts using fake accounts have increased since 2019.

·  Beijing’s efforts have come up short in influencing public opinion, but present other threats to free expression. In 23 out of 30 countries, public opinion toward China or the Chinese government has declined since 2018, indicating comparatively modest returns on the CCP’s considerable investment in shaping foreign views. However, Beijing’s media influence projects have been more successful in limiting critical original reporting and commentary on China in many countries, establishing dominance over Chinese-language media, and building a structural foundation for further manipulation.

·  Democracies’ ability to counter CCP media influence is alarmingly uneven. Only half of the countries examined in this study achieved a rating of Resilient, while the remaining half were designated as Vulnerable. Taiwan faced the most intense CCP influence efforts, but it also mounted the strongest response, followed in both respects by the United States. Nigeria was deemed the most vulnerable to Beijing’s existing media influence campaigns, while Senegal had the weakest underlying capacity for resilience.

·  Inadequate government responses leave countries vulnerable or exacerbate the problem. Local laws that protect free expression help curtail Beijing’s efforts, but declines in press freedom and gaps in media regulations have undercut democratic resilience and created greater opportunities for future CCP media influence. In 23 countries, political leaders launched attacks on domestic media or exploited legitimate concerns about the Chinese government to impose arbitrary restrictions, target critical outlets, or fuel xenophobic sentiment.

View the full report findings here.

The report identifies a number of steps that democracies can take to respond more effectively to Beijing’s influence efforts, including building independent in-country expertise on China, supporting investigative journalism, improving transparency on media ownership, countering disinformation campaigns, and shoring up underlying protections for press freedom. It recommends that governments resist heavy-handed actions that limit access to information or otherwise conflict with human rights principles, and instead focus on forging partnerships with civil society and the media to ensure that all legislative and policy responses strengthen rather than weaken democratic institutions.

View the report’s complete recommendations for the media, governments, civil society, and technology companies here.