Tourism officials in southern China embrace Western social media sites like Twitter, YouTube that are banned at home
Guangdong’s tourism authorities promote attractions on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube in overseas campaign
Many popular Western social media sites are banned in mainland China but that hasn’t stopped tourism authorities in one of its most populous provinces from using the sites in a campaign to attract visitors, state media reports.
The deputy secretary of the Tourism Administration of Guangdong, Li Zhende, said on Tuesday his administration has been promoting the attractions of the southern province through sites like Twitter, Instagram and YouTube since a campaign was launched on January 6, according to China News Service.
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The campaign had netted nearly 10,000 followers, mostly in Europe and countries along the so-called Maritime Silk Road, Li said, without specifying which ones, Li was quoted as saying.
While it’s common for foreign governments to maintain a presence on leading social media platforms, mainland China’s authorities largely steer clear of them.
It posts mostly news from CPCNews.cn, a website under the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily. Other leading propaganda outfits like Xinhua News Agency and broadcaster CCTV also have accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.