Fact Checking: Misinformation Spread Quickly on Chinese-language Social Media after Lebanon’s Pager and Walkie-Talkie Explosions in September
Fact Checking: Misinformation Spread Quickly on Chinese-language Social Media after Lebanon’s Pager and Walkie-Talkie Explosions in September
The pager and walkie-talkie explosions that occurred in Lebanon on September 17 and 18 resulted in serious casualties and shocked the world. False information quickly circulated over social media among Chinese language users. [...] For Chinese nationalists, the explosions provided an opportunity to justify the concerns about Western products and demonstrate that only Chinese-made electronic equipment can provide consumer safety.
Several themes emerged from the Chinese disinformation pieces:
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The scenes that falsely depicted the explosions
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The incorrect allegation that Taiwan, Israel, Japan, and the United States were part of a conspiracy network
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Concerns that iPhones could also explode
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The claim that wealthy Middle Eastern countries have quickly abandoned Western-made electronic devices in favor of Chinese products, particularly those made by Huawei
The fourth one is absolutely hilarious. It demonstrates just how weak and insecure Chinese nationalism is that propagandists feel the need to create such a flimsy, self-congratulatory lie so that mainland citizens might feel something resembling pride about their crumbling dictatorship.
propagandists feel the need to create such a flimsy, self-congratulatory lie so that mainland citizens might feel something resembling pride about their crumbling dictatorship.
Are you talking about china or usa?
There's the expected whataboutism.
It's wasn't "explosions". It was a terrorist attack.
And yes, the USA was closely involved.
It's hard to take the imperial news seriously.