So in last few days, both Russia & China have been flooding the US w/ digital propaganda, looking to hijack the nationwide protests/violence for their own agenda.
There’s a lot to unpack here. Giddy up.
<<cue thread>>
There’s a lot to unpack here. Giddy up.
<<cue thread>>
Let’s start off w/ the basics. Since May 30, #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter & other US-related hashtags have become a mainstay of official Russian/Chinese @Twitter activity. Here’s the top 10 most-used hashtags. See a trend? 
@Twitter And it should go without saying that the US has now surpassed China in the country getting the most mentions, collectively, from Chinese/Russian official Twitter users.
By official Twitter users, I’m talking official embassies, ambassadors, media outlets — pretty much any official govt-linked accounts, including those media outlets that have (mostly) Kremlin links, more on that later
So let’s be clear. Since the crisis began, Chinese & Russian official accounts worldwide have targeted in on the protests. But it gets even more pronounced if we just focus on the hashtags of content that specifically mentions the US. More here:
Let’s be clear here. This is Russian/Chinese activity linked to the US protests. And sure, you could say some of this is coming from state media outlets & it’s the biggest story in town right now (even outdoing the #coronavirus)
But these are Chinese/Russian official accounts we’re talking about here, so it’s not like it’s independent media. It’s specifically linked to govt messaging coming from Moscow & Beijing. Politics are all over this.
So what are they tweeting about, I hear you ask? Well, let’s start off with the most retweeted message (from @redfishstream, which is backed by Kremlin). So far, this has 3.2k shares & 5.5k likes
And then there’s this from @ActualidadRT, also Kremlin-backed media, in Spanish: “They hit you w/ a truncheon & accuse you of attacking them.” More than 50 years ago, Malcom X accused US police of mistreating African Americans. Hs the situation changed?”
This is a trend you see from both Russian & Chinese accounts (particularly Chinese): tweet Russian-backed media outlets to say things that are more provocative than you would be willing to say on your own. RT doesn’t mean endorsement, amirite?
But then you have @SpokespersonCHN, spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, who tweet “THUGS & HEROES HYPOCRISY” along w/ this @RT content on May 30
That came the same day that she retweeted @statedeptspox w/ the “I can’t breathe” attached, which has become emblematic of the #georgefloyd protests
Just going to let the irony settle here of a Chinese official using the words “I can’t breathe” w/ what’s happened across China in recent months/years. But I digress
Across the board, a pattern emerges — efforts to promote a line that 1) the US is on flames (it is, so yeah…); 2) the US is divided more than ever (ditto); 3) The injustices are there for all to see; 4) The US should not be throwing stones from its glass house
Final outshout must go to @libijian2, Beijing’s consul general to Karachi. He’s an avid retweeter — particularly when it comes to undermining the US. This morning he retweeted this from @CGTNOfficial
To be clear, that’s a Chinese govt official calling out US police for “excessive force.”
The world we live in.
The world we live in.
Rant over. Thoughts appreciated.
PS: HT to @SecureDemocracy for their great online social media analysis tools that I used in my initial analysis. It’s really good, take a look: bit.ly/32zqwVO
