In China, a battle for public opinion over Ukraine pits facts against propaganda

//“The driving narrative or motivation to believe in pro-Russian disinformation is quite simple. If we don’t support Russia, NATO will eventually threaten China,” said Fang Kecheng, assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at City University of Hong Kong. “It’s a flawed and misleading narrative, but it’s easy to go viral and be accepted.”

A collective of volunteers called China Fact Check, started in 2020 to combat misinformation, has published near-daily updates since the Ukraine crisis began. Students from Renmin University in Beijing and an education company called Plan C released guides to fact-checking.

“This is one example of people really wanting to get more accurate information. They are very dissatisfied with the current social media environment and the information available there,” Fang said.//