A self-proclaimed Uyghur woman from China’s Xinjiang region, her words go against the international condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party for its appalling treatment of the largely Muslim ethnic minority group.
Among the shocking accusations levelled at China are allegations of torture, mass sterilisation, labour camps, and forced detention, all of which amount to claims of genocide.
However, the narrative presented on Samat’s YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts (titled the “Story of Xinjiang by Guli”) is a little different.
Instead, she, and her co-presenter, Hurshidem Ablikim, focus on Xinjiang as being dominated by lush landscapes. Her videos show mountains, lakes and cotton fields, as well as shots of the national cuisine, including mutton kebabs and hand-pulled noodles.
Now, a recent report titled “Frontier influencers: the new face of China’s propaganda” and released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has exposed how China’s state government uses vloggers to spread propaganda and strengthen government messaging.
They’ve labelled these social media stars as “frontier influencers”, as they come from China’s borderlands of Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia.
While they appear to make travel and lifestyle videos which promote their provinces, some either spoken in English or bearing English subtitles, the content creators are managed by CCP-backed multichannel media networks.
From China to international appeal
Speaking to news.com.au, ASPI analyst report co-author Daria Impiombato likened the misinformation presented on these accounts to what we saw in the early days of the pandemic.
“It’s the same sort of logic, as the beginning with Covid, when online content was not moderated,” Impiombato tells news.com.au.
“This was before social media and streaming platforms placed alerts for people to get more information from reputable sources on any mentions of Covid.”
Unlike obvious propaganda campaigns, the broad scope of travel and lifestyle videos enables the CCP to portray the “good China story” more accurately.
“They have a sort of self-made vibe and in a less contextualised environment they can be perceived as genuine citizens who want to express their support for the party policies.”
The effect, Impiombato believes, is two-fold. One – it can “flood” search engine results with content that speaks against “very solid research findings on human rights violations in Xinjiang”.
One such example relates to cotton. For example, a video shared by Uyghur influencer Guli Abdushukur – who goes by the name Annie Guli – shows her frolicking around Xinjiang’s cotton fields and participating in the province’s cotton harvest.
However, the four-minute video contains no mention of the allegations that Uyghur workers are being used for forced labour, leading to international backlash and import boycotts.
“I think that is one of the ways we can use supply chains to ensure we don’t promote, we don’t condone, and we don’t financially support forced labour.”
She also paid tribute to the “strength and determination” of the Australian Uyghur community.
“Many of them have been unable to be in contact with their loved ones, and I think the fact that some of these stories have come to light demonstrates the determination of Uyghurs around the world. But certainly here in Australia,” Senator Wong said.
