China discreetly paid for U.S. social media influencers to tout Beijing Winter Olympics

Washington – A “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” TV star, a Paralympic swimmer and a self-described “brand king” were among the influencers of Instagram and TikTok who were paid by Chinese officials for a campaign discreet that promoted the Beijing Winter Olympics, the new Justice. They reveal documents from the department.

Social media posts were streamed through a variety of popular Instagram and TikTok accounts with a combined 5 million people following their videos, photos, and content on travel destinations, sports, fashion. and women’s issues. The Chinese consulate in New York paid $ 300,000 to Vippi Media of New Jersey to recruit influencers. Posts were not properly labeled as ads the way TikTok and Instagram require.

“It allows them to increase the reach and resonance of their messages so that they look like authentic, independent content,” said Jessica Brandt, an interference and misinformation expert at Brookings Institution. Chinacampaign on social media.

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More details about the campaign on social media were revealed on Monday in documents submitted to the Justice Department, just days after an Associated Press review revealed that China is using a wide network of influencers and social media accounts to offer subtle propaganda to users around the world.

The AP report found that Vippi Media had not yet submitted updates to the Justice Department on its influencer campaign, although federal law requires the company to do so within the next 24 hours. to the dissemination of the material. The company had been registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law that seeks to let Americans know when foreign entities are trying to influence public opinion or policymakers.

The Vippi Media campaign, targeted at U.S. social media users, reached about 4 million users with ads spread across stories, videos, and posts on TikTok and Instagram in January, February, and March by nearly a dozen influencers. . The accounts named in the presentation shared posts promoting the Olympics with the hashtags # Beijing2022, #partner, and #ad.

Most of the Instagram and TikTok content shared by influencers simply heralded the Winter Olympics, shared pictures of some ceremonial events, or shared information about Chinese cultural customs.

Crystal Kung Minkoff, a member of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast, who was listed as one of the influencers hired by Vippi Media, posted a video on his Instagram where he made a news-style home broadcast fake, from a set of music chairs with their kids. Later, the publication congratulated “Team USA” and said that Beijing was the first city to host the summer and winter games. A message left to Minkoff was not answered immediately.

Meanwhile, Jessica Long, a decorated Paralympic swimmer and a popular Instagram personality, celebrated the upcoming Olympics in a January 27 post to her nearly 100,000 followers. “Have fun making lasting memories at the Beijing, China Winter Olympics.” Long did not immediately return the request for comment.

One of the most striking videos was of TikTok influencer Ryan Dubs, a “brand king” with over half a million followers on his account, where he often markets skin care products.

Dubs published a 3-minute interview with the Consul General of China in New York, Huang Ping, who spoke with the Chinese and American flags behind him.

The spot’s caption includes hashtags for the 2022 Beijing Games. Huang and Dubs denounce U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. Dubs says it has amazing suppliers in China and encourages U.S. entrepreneurs to do business with China. Haung continued to invite American companies to come to China in the video. The Beijing Games appear briefly, with Dubs saying that “they helped define China in 2022.” Dubs did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.

It is unclear how much each influencer was paid to post the content.

Minkoff, Long, and Dubs used #partner in their posts, but did not directly identify who sponsored the content. Instagram requires influencers to tag the sponsor, and both TikTok and Instagram require their users to register posts as a paid collaboration with the company. Most influencers, however, break these rules, leaving social media users in the dark about who pays for the posts they see on their channels.

A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately return an email asking for comments.

In:
• Olimpic games
• instagram
• Meta
• China
• Tik Tok