The Lawfare Podcast: YouTube Influencers and the Chinese Government

Jen Patja, Jacob Schulz, Paul Mozur, Darren Linvill
Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 12:00 PM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

Last month, the New York Times ran a story about YouTube videos promoting tourism to China and promoting messages sympathetic to the Chinese government. The accounts are a part of a broader network of profiles on Twitter, YouTube and other social media, spreading pro-Beijing narratives. To talk through the story and what to make of the accounts, Jacob Schulz sat down with one of the story's authors, Paul Mozur, a reporter at the New York Times, and Darren Linvill, an associate professor at the University of Clemson. They talked through who exactly these accounts are, what messages they promote and how to think about what impact they're having.


Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
Jacob Schulz is a law student at the University of Chicago Law School. He was previously the Managing Editor of Lawfare and a legal intern with the National Security Division in the U.S. Department of Justice. All views are his own.
Paul Mozur is a New York Times correspondent focused on technology and geopolitics in Asia.
Darren Linvill is a Professor in the Department of Communication at Clemson University and co-director of the Clemson University Media Forensics Hub. He studies the tactics, strategies, and impacts of foreign malign influence.
}

Subscribe to Lawfare