How official Chinese propaganda is adapting to the social media age as disaffection spreads among millennials
- Communist Party’s official outlets scouring country for new media specialists to reach 800 million web users and squeeze out ‘undesirable influences’
- Growing disaffection among younger generations prompts party outlets to cut back on Communist jargon in effort to ‘reach people’s hearts’
China’s leadership has started a propaganda blitz amid concerns about rising dissent among younger internet users.
Observers said Beijing was seriously concerned that online media was having an “undesirable influence” on young Chinese people and was trying to ensure they got more exposure to the officially approved narrative.
At the core of this drive is a team of millennial new media specialists who eschew the jargon-heavy style of traditional propaganda in favour of stories designed to resonate with younger, web-savvy citizens.
President Xi Jinping told a January 22 meeting of senior officials that they should regard the political risk from public dissent as their top priority and prepare for the “worst-case scenario”.
The Chinese leadership is acutely sensitive to the danger of public dissent as the economy starts to slow, and recent months have seen protests by army veterans, teachers and young Marxist students supporting workers’ rights.
Four days after his speech, Xi led members of the political bureau of the Communist Party Central Committee on a visit to the new media operation of People’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece.
He spoke at length on the importance of “boosting integrated media development and amplifying the mainstream voice” in public communication.