China’s state disinformation campaigns against the Hong Kong protesters are unwelcome on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook, with the mainstream platforms shutting down accounts that spread propaganda videos; but increasingly these blocked videos are available on Pornhub, something that has been jubilantly announced by mainland Chinese social media influencers on Wechat.
Six of them were from a channel named “CCYL_central” that joined three months ago, and has so far uploaded 11 videos in all. Its videos on Hong Kong ranged from Hong Kong citizens expressing their praise for Hong Kong police, to news clips from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV condemning the protesters for violent behavior. The channel describes its acronym as standing for the Chinese Communist Youth League—but it’s unlikely to be actually affiliated with the youth wing of the Communist Party. The channel, which said its favorite book is one written by Chinese president Xi Jinping on politics, has so far garnered 9,000 views and 32 subscribers.Another account shared six videos, mostly about how protesters are advocating for Hong Kong independence and praising Chinese students overseas for clashing with Hong Kong “separatists.”
And a handle called “John97,”—an account that was only registered yesterday—reposted a single graphic video that had been earlier shared on YouTube by Nathan Rich, an American living in China who creates videos that counter criticism of China. The video has been viewed 3,000 times on the platform.
China’s messaging against the Hong Kong protests has found a new outlet: PornHub [Jane Li/Quartz]