Chinese-language online posts<\/span><\/a> <\/i><\/b>disparaging Singapore and its Indian community has shone a spotlight on an industry of independent content creators in China who seize on sensational and inflammatory narratives about other countries to attract clicks and generate income.<\/p>\nSingapore authorities say the content in the 14 posts that have been blocked by the city-state was likely generated \u201corganically\u201d, rather than as part of a government-coordinated campaign, and that the content likely originated from a China-based social media platform. It remains unclear, however, how these posts later spread to Facebook, YouTube and X, and for what reason.<\/p>\n
Industry observers told The Straits Times that, in general, Chinese independent content creators, known collectively as zimeiti <\/i>or \u201cself-media\u201d, are primarily driven by commercial considerations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn China, \u2018self-media\u2019 is primarily a business,\u201d said the Chinese University of Hong Kong\u2019s (CUHK) Associate Professor Fang Kecheng.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must have traffic before you can monetise, so traffic is paramount,\u201d said Fang, who studies the industry.<\/p>\n
A 2023 report by the China Association of Performing Arts estimated that China had more than 1 billion content creator accounts. It said live-streaming and short-video content generated almost 200 billion yuan (S$38 billion) in revenue and supported more than 100 million jobs.<\/p>\n
The business model revolves around scale. Creators seek to maximise clicks and followers, which in turn boosts their ability to earn from advertisements, e-commerce and virtual tips from viewers.<\/p>\n
And because success depends on building the largest possible audience, creators primarily target domestic viewers in China, home to 1.1 billion internet users.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s self-media ecosystem encompasses creators of many different stripes. Some focus on make-up or fitness, while others draw audiences with videos of cute animals or celebrities. One segment specialises in providing commentary on both domestic and international affairs.<\/p>\n
While there are no official numbers on how many content creators focus on current affairs, a report by Weibo on the platform\u2019s hottest topics in 2025 found that social issues account for 28 per cent of trending searches. The category includes international topics such as US-China relations and the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n
Experts say that for current affairs commentators, a high-reward, low-risk formula is to frame China\u2019s development in a favourable light while portraying foreign countries as troubled, declining or inferior.<\/p>\n
A search on Weibo and Douyin, China\u2019s versions of X and TikTok respectively, as well as messaging platform WeChat, found scores of videos by Chinese content creators claiming that Singapore is being overrun by Indians, a narrative similar to that found in those 14 posts. Many also portrayed the Republic negatively in other ways.<\/p>\n
But these self-styled current affairs commentators do not target Singapore alone.<\/p>\n
Many adopt a scattergun approach, hopping from one country to another in search of the next attention-grabbing topic. They could be gloating over the declining fortunes of Japanese carmakers one day; then highlighting the hardships caused by a heatwave in India the next.<\/p>\n
When they turn their attention to China, the tone is often markedly different. Their videos are filled with chest-thumping praise of the country\u2019s achievements, from economic and technological advances to the unveiling of new military hardware.<\/p>\n
Assistant Professor Wang Hai, who researches on Chinese media and soft power at the Nanyang Technological University, told ST that topics related to geopolitical competition, national pride, resentment towards foreign countries or perceived external threats are potent drivers of online traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmotionally charged content tends to travel especially well, and political topics often generate strong reactions. What drives engagement is often less about the information itself, but the emotional response it generates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
India and Indians have long been a reliable trigger for strong reactions online, noted Qi Fei, an independent media observer.<\/p>\n
She said India is a popular target to disparage because it lags behind China in development, yet is one of the few countries large enough to serve as a meaningful benchmark against which China\u2019s progress can be measured, making unfavourable comparisons especially gratifying for Chinese audiences.<\/p>\n
CUHK\u2019s Fang said the political risks of producing such content are relatively low because commentary on foreign countries faces less stringent censorship than content focused on domestic issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuthorities tend not to block content about foreign countries because it does not question or challenge the Chinese government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Avoiding censorship is critical because content that is removed cannot attract audiences or generate revenue, making the effort spent producing it futile.<\/p>\n
Experts say the sudden flurry of similar narratives across many online commentaries may look, to the untrained eye, like a coordinated campaign or evidence of widespread public consensus. Often, however, the explanation is far more mundane: commercial incentives reward creators for repeating narratives that have already proved successful.<\/p>\n
Under pressure to produce a constant stream of content, creators often take the path of least resistance, repackaging other creators\u2019 arguments that have already gained traction online, rather than developing their own.<\/p>\n
Those signed to multi-channel networks (MCNs) \u2013 companies that promote creators across multiple platforms \u2013 also rely on ready-made scripts supplied by the firms, said a former employee of Bilibili, a popular Chinese video-sharing platform. She cannot be named as she is not authorised to speak to media.<\/p>\n
Profit motives may also explain why content originally produced for a domestic Chinese audience sometimes migrates to overseas platforms such as YouTube and X, which are blocked in China.<\/p>\n
According to CUHK\u2019s Fang, intense competition for attention within China pushes creators to look further afield, while significantly higher payouts per click on foreign platforms provide a strong commercial incentive to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, there is a large wave of \u2018self-media\u2019 expanding overseas digitally, where they can tap on the sizeable Chinese-speaking audience living abroad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A current affairs commentator with two million followers on Weibo told ST that independent content creators who rail against other countries typically wield far less influence than their loud online personas suggest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may sound tough when they lambast Trump or other foreign leaders in their videos, but in real life they wouldn\u2019t even dare to talk back to the administrator of their residential community,\u201d said the commentator, who declined to be named as his employer prohibits him from speaking to foreign media.<\/p>\n
He said most online commentators operate far removed from China\u2019s foreign policy establishment, neither receiving guidance nor providing meaningful input to policymakers in Beijing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen crafting their spiels, they don\u2019t have to care about logic, truth or the impact on China\u2019s relations with other countries. They simply tell followers what they want to hear, pandering to their nationalistic instincts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Their followers are not tuning in for deep insights into other countries, either. \u201cWatching such content is simply a way to pass time and let off steam,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople outside China tend to view such videos through a political lens. In reality, however, this is a highly depoliticised industry where political commentary is mere entertainment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The commentator also rejected the notion that most such content is directed by the state. \u201cWe can\u2019t rule out a few rare instances with official backgrounds, but the vast majority are just firing off cannons on their own,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n