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China

Chi­na is a mul­ti­fac­eted FIMI actor with a diverse arse­nal of tac­tics that ranges from pub­lic diplo­ma­cy to ille­git­i­mate intim­i­da­tion and harass­ment of crit­i­cal voic­es to sup­press infor­ma­tion out­side its bor­ders. Chi­na’s activ­i­ties include the spread­ing of con­spir­a­cies, the use of paid social media influ­encers with undis­closed con­nec­tions to state-con­trolled media, and the sup­pres­sion of com­pet­ing voic­es or mes­sages that under­mine Chi­na’s offi­cial nar­ra­tive. Chi­na has built a glob­al media foot­print and has been seen using its eco­nom­ic lever­age to influ­ence media cov­er­age while heav­i­ly restrict­ing for­eign cor­re­spon­dent report­ing in Chi­na. There are wor­ries about the expor­ta­tion of Chi­nese cen­sor­ship poli­cies through glob­al spread of Chi­nese online plat­forms. Chi­na and Rus­sia have con­verged in the infor­ma­tion envi­ron­ment, with Chi­nese state-con­trolled media ampli­fy­ing pro-Krem­lin con­spir­a­cy nar­ra­tives and pro­vid­ing a plat­form for sanc­tioned Russ­ian media outlets.