Democracy and Human Rights Program
Beijing’s Global Media Influence 2022: Chile
DateSeptember 2022
BibliographyBeijing’s Global Media Influence 2022 by Freedom House
AuthorBC Han and Sascha Hannig Nuñez
Summary In September 2022, the American institution Freedom House, known for its Freedom in the World Index, published a special issue on Beijing’s Global Media Influence 2022. GGR assistant Sascha Hannig Nuñez co-authored a section of the report which analyzes the disinformation a­nd the degree of influence that the Chinese media have had on Chile. The report explores Chinese influence efforts in digital, press, a­nd audiovisual media across dozens of countries in the world, identifying unfair responses against Chinese citizens (as overreaction) a­nd resilience mechanisms to protect freedom of expression a­nd democracy. Common practices were identified for all PRC state media, public officials, a­nd diplomats. In Chile, the researchers found that these attempts to change narratives appeared especially through inserts a­nd co-publications in traditional media, with the objective of countering the negative image of the PRC during the pandemic a­nd creating a parallel concept of democracy. Interestingly, the main supportive group of Beijing’s narratives was the Chilean elites. Still, journalists a­nd civil society have kept this influence attempts exposed. The report was also cited by media outlets such as Voice of America (in English a­nd Chinese) a­nd the independent Chilean media Ex Ante.