Racism against blacks is “predominant” on social networks in China and authorities are ignoring the phenomenon, accusing the Human Rights Observatory (ODH), an organization Beijing considers “implausible”, and refuting the allegations.
After the BBC television network exposed a scheme to exploit vulnerable children in Africa to produce racist videos that were then circulated on Chinese social media, ODH says in a new report that racist content on the Chinese internet targeting black people has “common” in recent years.
Based on the analysis of hundreds of videos, the ODH found that China’s major social networks – including Bilibili, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo and Xiaohongshu – “frequently allow” the publication of racist content.
“The Chinese government likes to promote notions of anti-colonialist unity and solidarity in relations with Africa, but at the same time ignores the widespread hate speech against black people on the internet,” denounced Yaqiu Wang, a researcher at the ODH, in the report titled “China: Combating of racism against blacks in social networks”.
“Beijing must recognize that investing in Africa and embracing China-Africa friendship will not undo the damage caused by racism,” he added.
In a statement to the Lusa bureau, the Chinese government said it “strongly opposes all forms of racial discrimination” and guaranteed to “actively combat racism”.
“The brotherhood between China and Africa has withstood the tests of struggle and time, and no power can shake it off,” the same note reads.
Without sharing specific examples, the ODH indicated that in a widely shared video genre, Africans are portrayed as a poor and subservient people, while Chinese living in Africa are portrayed as wealthy and generous, providing local people with jobs, homes, food and offer money.
Another common form of racist content disparages interracial relationships, according to the ODH.
In this case, black people married to Chinese nationals are being accused of “staining” and threatening the Chinese “race”. In particular, the relationships between black men and Chinese women are underestimated.
Some Chinese women who shared photos with their black partners on Chinese social media have been targeted by harassment onlineincluding death threats, rape threats and the publication of your personal information, the ODH said.
Some netizens further urged Chinese authorities to ban black people from becoming permanent residents of China or marrying Chinese citizens.
Beijing maintains a censorship mechanism online known as the “Great Firewall of China” and blocks portals such as Facebook, Youtube and Google or the electronic versions of various foreign media.
Content and comments on networks and discussion boards online are subject to control by the authorities. Algorithms allow content deemed politically sensitive to be quickly censored, while certain keywords such as “Tiananmen Massacre” are not allowed to be published.
Black people living in China quoted by ODH said they had reported “racist content” to companies that manage social networks. They said they only received automatic responses indicating that the content did not violate the guidelines.
“For me, it’s shocking that content [racista] not be censored or banned, given the speed with which the Great ‘Firewall’ works to ban [criticas ao governo]said a Shanghai-based African quoted in the ODH report.
In the statement to Lusa, the Chinese government said the ODH is “accustomed to producing and spreading lies and rumors”.
“He is basically a criminal who serves certain countries to manipulate public opinion and has no credibility,” he assured.
Last year, a BBC television network documentary exposed a plan to exploit vulnerable children in Africa to produce racist videos that are then circulated on Chinese social media.
The documentary, titled Racism for Sale (“Racism for Sale”, in Portuguese) shows how Chinese content creators sold videos of children in Malawi shouting racial slurs at black people, uttered in Chinese, without understanding what they were saying .
In one such video, which dates back to February 2020, a group of African children were instructed to repeat the phrase “I am a black monster and my IQ is low”.
“Major social networks in China do not adhere to their own guidelines for dealing with widespread racist content,” said Wang. “The Chinese authorities must stop facilitating this toxic environment,” he said.
Source: DN
