In recent weeks, dozens of screengrab posts from China’s most popular social media platforms have been translated and shared on Twitter, offering western audiences a rare glimpse into the Chinese internet.
The posts come courtesy of anonymous Twitter users, who say their goal is to show Western audiences the true extent of pro-Russian or nationalist content on China’s heavily censored platforms.
They often come under the hashtag “The Great Translation Movement” or are shared from an account of the same name, run by a decentralized, anonymous team that crowdsources the collection and translation of popular posts on Ukraine and other hot topics, so a CNN administrator interviewed. Many, but not all, appear to have been universally liked or shared in China – selection criteria cited by the administrator.
Since the account’s launch in early March, it has already made many friends and foes alike – drawing both 116,000 followers (and counting) and a slew of criticism from China’s state media.
The movement was formed in response to China’s alleged hypocrisy in presenting itself as neutral towards Ukraine, despite its state and social media spreading pro-Russian narratives, the administrator told CNN.
“We want the outside world to at least know what’s going on inside because we don’t think anything could be changed from the inside,” said the administrator, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.
With bad intentions?
China’s state media has fought fiercely against what they call “cherry picking.” The foreign arm of People’s Daily – the mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party – has claimed the translators behind the movement are guilty of attributing the “extreme remarks” made by some netizens to the “whole country”.
Nationalist newspaper Global Times has accused the group of being “Chinese-speaking malicious actors,” and one of its opinion writers claimed that the group included “foreign enemy forces” that are continuing “psychological warfare against China.”
Outside of China, media experts warn that the posts do not present a holistic view of Chinese public opinion and appear to have been chosen at least in part for their shock value, but could still be useful in shedding light on these elements of the Chinese media sphere. Critics also say the group’s tweets show evidence of their own bias — such as in posts using a term comparing China to Nazi Germany.
Posts gaining traction on China’s social media must be seen in the light of its heavily censored environment, where nationalist voices thrive and liberal ones have largely retreated or been censored, experts say.
But the administrator, who spoke to CNN, said it’s about highlighting the visibility of such posts — some from popular influencers, comments with thousands of likes or from celebrity commentators, and even from state-backed news outlets.
“Our goal is to raise awareness of the state of public opinion in China, whether it is just the result of spontaneous interactions (or) the result of government censorship,” the administrator said.
“We want to counter the efforts of the Chinese state-affiliated media by showing the West some content they don’t want to show.”
Double messaging
Chinese state media opposition to the group underscores the sensitivity of how China wants to present itself on the world stage, especially at a time when it is attempting to walk a diplomatic tightrope between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
China has often tried to present two different narratives – one for domestic audiences and another for audiences abroad. This is made possible by both a language barrier and an online ecosystem that bans apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Great Translation Movement overcomes both of these barriers.
“Even before the social media era, the way China talks about its state media internally is something it doesn’t appreciate being analyzed and translated for the world,” said David Bandurski, director of the China Media Project , a research program in partnership with the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism & Media Studies Center.
And when it comes to Ukraine, China has tried to portray itself – at least to overseas audiences – as nonconformist and invested in the call for peace. But media coverage at home tells a different story, Bandurksi said.
“If you just look at the (state) media coverage, it’s really difficult to talk about neutrality… Everything they’ve said reinforces disinformation and narratively aligns with Russia.”
While the tone of the state-backed media is clear, experts say it’s difficult to gauge public opinion in China simply by looking at social media, even when it comes to popular influencers or viral posts.
Like anywhere in the world, views on social media can be extreme. In China, heavy manipulation and censorship often amplify selected voices.
“The authorities certainly have an interest in promoting their preferred narrative online, and they have the technical and political tools to rigorously steer public opinion,” said Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Center in the Netherlands.
“We should also not underestimate the power of social media algorithms: as pro-Russian statements become mainstream, they receive more and more likes and shares, making them more visible,” he said.
Suppressed voices, echo chambers
The situation is complicated: Beijing too has reason to be wary of ultra-nationalist voices that sometimes censor platforms. And while nationalist rhetoric has become more dominant online in recent years, the loudest voices may not show a majority.
Bandurski said that an analogy would be to look at ultra-conservative voices in the US media environment and assume that this is representative of the American perspective.
“So the danger is that kind of echo chamber of content that we might assume is representative of China and its perspective, and it’s really a lot more complicated than that,” he said.
Maria Repnikova, director of the Center for Global Information Studies at Georgia State University, said that when it comes to Ukraine, there have been “alternative voices that have been talking about the war … but they’re not as dominant or as loud or as visible “. Their posts can either be censored or difficult to spot, as social media users can express differing views through code and innuendos.
She also asks if it would be different if images of bombed cities in Ukraine or the atrocities in Bucha in China were not restricted.
“If people could see all these images and scenes, would that be a different story? Would other voices be raised?”
The administrator of the Great Translation Movement said he hopes the movement can help persuade Beijing to tone down the rhetoric on these platforms to allow for more voices.
“In today’s mainstream Chinese discourse, there is very limited space for people who have rational minds to speak,” the administrator said.
“Even if you speak up and it’s not deleted, you’ll still be spammed… and people will say you’re a spy… people’s very dignity is destroyed.”
CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed to this story.