In the United States, it is hard to find Chinese-language media that are not influenced or controlled by the CCP. The growth of the CCP’s media network has been facilitated to a great extent by the widespread use of China’s WeChat messaging service within America’s Chinese language communities.
Collectively, through controlling WeChat accounts, the CCP can squeeze out independent Chinese-language media and community groups, monopolize the information environment, and put more people under its control. This has the potential for depriving Chinese communities of their ability to participate independently in political discussions.
Consider this observation made by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s 2020 policy brief report (pdf) titled, “The Influence Environment: A Survey of Chinese-Language Media in Australia.” The report says, “WeChat, a Chinese social media app created by Tencent, may be driving the most substantial and harmful changes ever observed in Australia’s Chinese-language media sector.”…