Tag: Social media

The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your Feed

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“This is what we look like on Day 1 of taking beetroot every day. This is Day 50.” They look like the kind of wellness influencers you see every day on social media. “This is Day 77, girl.” But none of them are real. They are A.I.- generated and designed to sell health supplements on social media. The Times reviewed hundreds of these ads to understand how A.I. video tools are helping a loosely regulated industry target American consumers and profit off of disinformation about their health. “They’re targeting us…

The Guardian view on perceptions of superpowers: the world isn’t Chinamaxxing, it’s America-avoidant | Editorial

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Startling new research shows that in many countries – including old US allies – the public prefers Beijing to Washington Earlier this year, a spate of western TikTok and Instagram creators announced that they were at “a very Chinese time in my life” – drinking hot water and wearing slippers around their homes. The Chinamaxxing phenomenon primarily reflected the constant need of influencers for novel content. But social media trends also reflect a growing fascination with China, as the economic historian Adam Tooze has noted. While it broods over China’s…

China, Russia and Others Seek to Inflame Debate Over A.I. Data Centers

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A state-owned newspaper in China recently published a satellite image of a data center in Gainesville, Va., writing in English that the development of artificial intelligence posed a threat to Americans’ physical and financial well-being. A comic strip made to look as if it had been published by a Maryland news outlet — created with OpenAI’s ChatGPT by people in China, the tech company said — circulated on X this year, blaming data centers for soaring electricity bills. It showed a tycoon smoking a cigar and clutching bags of cash.…

Why the U.S. Could Beat China

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And there’s been a new phenomenon in the U.S. called Chinamaxxing. Have you heard of this, Natasha? No, what is Chinamaxxing? Chinamaxxing is mostly a social media phantasm, but a lot of people have been looking at these videos of the skyline of Shanghai or the skyline of Chongqing, which is really amazing. There’s these drone shows out there, and people are feeling like, “Oh, you’re meeting me at a very Chinese time of my life.” You’re drinking tea more. You’re wearing slippers inside the house. People are playing mahjong…

Videos Show Chinese Businesses Hawking North Korean Labor

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Quick deliveries of large orders for stuffed toys, fake eyelashes and crocheted bags that are made with cheap labor, including some workers who are on the job for 16 hours straight. This is the pitch some Chinese businesses are making on social media to potential customers. But the products they are selling are made in North Korea, like in this video of a wig factory. In the posts, which have proliferated in recent years, some Chinese entrepreneurs say that they own factories in North Korea and openly share contact information,…

He Become China’s Largest Critic in Exile. Then The Threats Followed Him.

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One afternoon in October 2024, Li Ying was lying in bed, scrolling through X, when he got a notification on his phone from the peephole security camera on his apartment door in Turin, Italy. Two men were lingering in the hallway. He got up quietly, went to the door and watched them through the camera feed on his phone. For two years, ever since he turned his X account into one of the most influential Chinese-language sources for uncensored news and dissent, Mr. Li had received threats of physical harm.…

Trump says UK’s aircraft carriers are just ‘toys’, repeating complaint about lack of support US in Iran – UK politics live

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From 22m ago Trump claims UK’s aircraft carriers are just ‘toys’ as he renews his attack on Nato allies for doing ‘nothing’ over Iran Donald Trump has claimed that the UK’s two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are little better than “toys”. The president hit out as he spoke on camera at the start of a cabinet meeting in the White House. In a rambling address, that covered a range of subjects, Trump revived his complaint about the UK not offering military help with the…

When your culture becomes a meme: the ‘jarring’ effect of Chinamaxxing

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I have been Chinese my whole life. Lately, many online have also found their Chinese roots, but not through traditional ancestry tests. Creators are drinking hot water, wearing slippers around the house, using chopsticks, eating Chinese food, and wearing red. Taking off in popularity from mid-2025, these videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views, finding virality first on TikTok, then later Instagram and X. Put simply, “people are trying to be more Chinese regardless of what their heritage is,” says Michelle She, a London-based fashion label owner. Chinamaxxing…

The kill line v Chinamaxxing: a window into how China and the US see each other

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Across two online worlds that are normally splintered, over the last few months there has been a mirroring of sorts. On TikTok and Instagram, young people are diving into the joys of Chinese culture – from drinking hot water to playing mahjong – all under the banner of “Chinamaxxing”. On the Chinese internet, however, the US is losing its decades-long grip on soft power, and is instead being replaced by a darker trend: the kill line. The kill line is a dangerous place to be. In gaming, the term refers…