Thread by @RunakoCelina

In 2020, a Weibo account called ‘Jokes about Black people club’ posted a video.

In it, a group of African children huddled round a blackboard are made to say in Chinese:

‘I'm a Black monster, my IQ is low’

Before you continue, I implore you to open a new tab, and google the word these children are saying - Hei gui 黑鬼 .

I think the results speak for themselves

Africans in China had been speaking out about the industry that this video forms part of for years - @wode_maya has been one of the most vocal.

I was living in Beijing at the time this video was circulated and like many people of African descent across China watched it with horror, wondering why, how, who and where - no one seemed to know all the answers - but we all wanted to.

This industry had existed for years - and its huge. Back in 2017, there was a wave of controversy around these videos - soon after, they started to disappear from Taobao, a site like Ebay, where they were being sold at the time. Many of us thought – success!

But it didn’t take long for us to see this content crop up once again – from WeChat to Weibo, and Douyin to Kuaishou. Over the next couple of years, the industry bubbled on.

In 2019, hoping to highlight the issue, I made a video for @BlackLivityCN drawing attention to the industry at large. I’d seen yet another video and began to look into the industry once again – but nothing changed

So when, in 2020 the Low IQ video surfaced, everyone was horrified - but sadly not surprised. Our #BBCAfricaEye X #BBCEye investigation comes at a time when the industry is growing – its now powered by agents and a sprawling range of social media accounts across many platforms.

Our BBCAfricaEye X BBCEye investigation comes at a time when the industry is growing – its now powered by agents and a sprawling range of social media accounts across multiple platforms.

This has helped propel the industry into new markets like Japan, and onto new, international platforms like TikTok, IG, Facebook – you name it. Just type ‘feizhou/非洲‘ and you’ll likely find it.

More recently, during the Shanghai lockdown these videos went viral once more.

Covered by @SCMPNews scmp.com/news/people-cu…

And The Paper: thepaper.cn/newsDetail_for…

And today, our investigation into the industry is finally out. This entire process has been such a collaborative effort – massive thanks to @danielsilas for taking that call from me late in December 2020 when I proposed this investigation (& to @richarddanbury for connecting me!)

To the team - my excellent co-reporter @henrymhango3 , producer and director @ChFrancavilla, plus @BardeyGoddie , @Yaolri , @edward_the6 , @Ecostard and more - together, we've unearthed an industry that is exploiting African children for profit, across the continent

So what now?

Young Malawians have been discussing the issues raised by the film tonight, led by @afrikanprxncess - its been insightful.

Tomorrow, my article detailing some of my more personal thoughts on this industry, on confronting one of the most prolific filmmakers in this industry and on my own time in China as a woman of African descent.

Later this week, we'll host a Twitter Space to delve further into the issues behind the film, featuring some of those who you might have spotted in the film and a host of others.

The podcast episode you hear at the start of the film will also be released in full length for @BlackLivityCN - it gives three really important voices a chance to delve into these issues - @wode_maya , journalist @Wanyuan_Song and ex-China expat Ola Alatishe

Until then, I hope this investigation will spark the conversation that many within China’s African diaspora have been calling for for years.

Watch the film at:

Or the shorter version at: bbc.com/news/av/world-…