The Times reported (June 16) that after the Chinese state-owned CGTN had its broadcasting licence revoked and was taken off the air in Britain in February, the network has launched a “media challengers” campaign to recruit internet influencers and vloggers globally, some of whom will promote China and counter western narratives that damage its image. Successful applicants can win up to $10,000 and secure part-time or full-time jobs at CGTN, according to promotional documents. At least six students at the University of Leeds and one at the University of Manchester have signed up to the campaign. CGTN had its broadcasting licence revoked and was taken off the air in Britain in February after an investigation by Ofcom, the media regulator, found that it was editorially controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Hannah Bailey, an expert on Chinese digital disinformation at the Oxford Internet Institute, was quoted saying: “If we have western social media influencers reading out China’s official line on particular issues, then domestic audiences might believe the Chinese Communist Party is admired by international audiences.” She said the CGTN campaign was “part of a broader trend that we’ve seen of China trying to increase its influence among university campuses”. Sam Armstrong, of the think tank the Henry Jackson Society, said: “CGTN’s vloggers are modern Lord Haw-Haws from a regime that parliament has judged to be engaging in a genocide against the Uighurs. No self-respecting university should allow such a propaganda outfit to recruit on its campus.” Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who has been sanctioned by China, called on Britain to “crack down” on CGTN. “This is a national danger and an insidious little communist plot.”
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