Lure of traffic drives millions of Chinese content creators to target Singapore

Independent content creators in China are making online posts disparaging Singapore, its politicians and minorities.

The latter, in particular, has made the authorities here concerned enough to block access to 14 online posts earlier in June, which targeted the Indian community and contained inflammatory narratives about Singapore’s cultural diversity.

If the content isn’t state-sanctioned, what’s driving Chinese content creators to make such posts, and why did it find an audience here?

In this episode, I chat with:

Benjamin Ang, the head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security, Future Issues and Technology at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He researches cybersecurity, digital security and disinformation, and
Straits Times senior columnist Tan Dawn Wei, who writes about China and its relations with the rest of the world. She was in Beijing for seven years from 2018 as ST’s China bureau chief, covering all aspects of the country, from its domestic politics to its economy.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:58 Difference between state-directed vs organic disinformation

3:56 Clicks for “outrageous” content

9:05 All about the clicks

10:23 "We just happen to be a hot topic.”

13:06 Why did the content focus on race?

18:05 Does the racist content reflect how some Singaporeans think?

21:21 How polarisation can happen

26:10 Why doesn’t the Chinese government take down such content?

Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg)

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