Tag: Press freedom

Research: Deepfake ‘News Anchors’ in Pro-China Footage

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  The “news broadcasters” appear stunningly real, but they are AI-generated deepfakes in first-of-their-kind propaganda videos that a research report published Tuesday attributed to Chinese state-aligned actors. The fake anchors — for a fictitious news outlet called Wolf News — were created by artificial intelligence software and appeared in footage on social media that seemed to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, U.S.-based research firm Graphika said in its report. “This is the first time we’ve seen a state-aligned operation use AI-generated video footage of a fictitious…

Taiwan Broadcaster Aims to Fill Gaps in Coverage

Chin@Strategy

It may be a relative newcomer to Taiwan’s media scene, but broadcaster TaiwanPlus has quickly established itself as a voice for the island. The state-affiliated broadcaster launched nearly 18 months ago and is already “filling the blank” for credible English-language content for Taiwan, analysts say. Its arrival comes as China is pushing its influence into Taiwan’s media environment. Starting as an online streaming platform — publishing news on a website, a news app and via social media — TaiwanPlus has seen quick success, attracting over half a million social media…

Trolling of Female Asian Journalists on Rise as Beijing Seeks to Discredit Media

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON —  Increased harassment over the past year directed at journalists and analysts who are women and of Asian descent is likely the result of an orchestrated campaign by the Chinese government, research by a think tank shows. Harassment largely played out on Twitter and ranged from insults about an individual’s appearance to accusations of being a traitor or threats of violence and rape. The aim of the abuse is to silence the women and discredit their critical coverage of China according to the non-partisan Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).…

National Security Provision in Iconic Press Club’s Lease Concerns Some Members in Hong Kong

Chin@Strategy

Since 1949, Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club has offered a refuge to international journalists: offering talks, exhibitions, or just a place to relax and chat with others in the trade. But its lease renewal has some questioning whether the club — which historically defends free press principles — can survive in Hong Kong. Since 1982, the club has been located in the city’s business district, where it leases from the government a converted 19th century brick building that is now dwarfed by towering skyscrapers. But when it came time to…

Hong Kong Publisher’s Security Trial Further Delayed

Chin@Strategy

Hong Kong —  The national security trial of a Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher was further postponed Tuesday to next September as the city awaits Beijing’s ruling that could effectively block him from hiring a British defense lawyer. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested in August 2020 during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement, is fighting charges of endangering national security. The 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily faces up to life in prison if convicted under a sweeping National Security Law imposed by Beijing. His high-profile trial,…

Hong Kong Delays Jimmy Lai Trial

Chin@Strategy

A court in Hong Kong has adjourned the trial of newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai until December 13 after the government sought to block a British lawyer from representing Lai. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee asked China’s top lawmaking body to decide whether foreign lawyers could participate in national security cases. Authorities accuse Lai of colluding with foreign forces, and he is also facing a charge of sedition. If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence. Lai is the founder of the Apple Daily newspaper that was forced to close…

Study: South Africa Resilient to Chinese Attempts to Influence Media 

Chin@Strategy

Johannesburg, South Africa —  South Africa’s free press has been largely successful at resisting efforts by the Chinese government to influence its content, say analysts, affirming a recent study by the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House. “In South Africa, we have a deep historical suspicion of state media,” said Anton Harber, professor of journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. South Africa’s wariness of state media, he said, stems from the country’s legacy of apartheid, the former state policy of racial segregation and discrimination that ended in 1994.…

China Arrests BBC Journalist Covering COVID Protests

Chin@Strategy

London —  The BBC has said one of its journalists in China was arrested and beaten by police while covering protests on Sunday against the country’s zero-COVID policy. Hundreds of people took to the streets in China’s major cities on Sunday in a rare outpouring of public anger against the state. “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” the broadcaster said in a statement. Lawrence, working in the country as an accredited journalist,…

BBC says Chinese police assaulted and detained its reporter at Shanghai protest

Chin@Strategy

Chinese police assaulted and detained a BBC journalist covering a protest in Shanghai on Sunday, releasing him after several hours, the broadcaster has said. “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” a spokesperson for the British public service broadcaster said. “He was held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.” Shanghai is one…

Hong Kong journalist union chair arrested weeks before Oxford fellowship

Chin@Strategy

The head of Hong Kong’s journalist union has been arrested, weeks before he was due to leave for an overseas fellowship at Oxford University. Ronson Chan, the chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), was arrested for allegedly obstructing a police officer and disorderly conduct in a public place. Channel C, the online news outlet Chan works for, said the veteran reporter was taken away by officers who asked to check his identity while he was reporting on a meeting of public housing flat-owners on Wednesday. Police said a…