China’s fragile online spaces for debate
Chinese social media platforms such as TikTok and RedNote have global reach – making it increasingly relevant for policymakers and interested citizens abroad to understand how they work and what happens there.
In a new report, MERICS experts Katja Drinhausen and Christina Sadeler and Kristin Shi-Kupfer from the University of Trier shed light on China’s remarkably diverse social media landscape. They argue that despite tight restrictions, European and other stakeholders should pay close attention to Chinese news reporting, expert discussions and online conversations to assess China’s domestic developments and international ambitions.
As the authors emphasize, China’s leadership seeks legitimacy responding to public sentiment expressed on the social media platforms. Official narratives aim to guide public perception and create support for domestic and foreign policy, aided by a powerful censorship apparatus. In addition to efforts by party-state institutions and media to spread “positive energy,” new laws and regulations seek to maintain control and further reign in spaces of exchange.
Censorship around topics such as the state of the economy can be an indicator of the priority and sensitivity attributed to a certain topic by the government. Gaps between official narratives and expert and citizen voices showcase public concerns, perceived shortcomings of state policy and even the potential for social unrest.
This analysis is part of “China Spektrum”, a joint research project between MERICS and the China Institute of the University of Trier (CIUT) funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. As part of this project, we analyze expert and public debates in China.
