"This paper offers a big-picture analysis of the Chinese Digital Silk Road’s (DSR) three most strategically pressing implications for the EU and India. It does so by analysing the DSR’s global progress and specific impacts in Europe and South Asia. The three implications are: a) the creation of
...
a full-fledged Chinese digital backbone; b) the setting of technological standards in the unfolding Fourth Industrial Revolution; and c) the shaping of cyber governance, norms, and a ‘digital experience’ with ‘Chinese characteristics’. While immediate DSR impact is currently more ubiquitous outside the EU and India, it will substantially influence the global digital order as well. The DSR offers countries involved in the initiative with economic opportunities, and can, if harnessed smartly, assist in enabling a more level playing field with advanced economies. Equally, it also poses challenges. From the EU and Indian economic and security points of view, neither can afford to ignore the DSR, or be reactionary in policy responses. For both, addressing emerging digital realities will require a long-term multi-pronged vision, and greater collaboration among like-minded states." (Abstract)
more
"Divisive Internet regulation is fragmenting the formerly worldwide web into numerous shards that follow their own rules. The US, the EU and China are influential in shaping regulation even beyond their own jurisdictions, with consequences for human rights, particularly in Africa. This paper argues
...
that, as of 2020, the Western post-9/11 security agenda and uncontrolled digital capitalism had a more detrimental impact on Internet regulation in Africa than the authoritarian Chinese concept of Internet sovereignty, seriously affecting freedom of expression and the right to privacy online. However, particularly authoritarian governments in Africa use China’s economic and political agenda to their advantage, leaving civil societies at the mercy of digitally empowered states. Direct ways of impacting Internet regulation in Africa include loans, development programs or influential laws, whereas indirect means include engagement in multilateral and multi-stakeholder fora. Besides the political and economic interests of states, the datafication agendas of ICT corporations shape Internet landscapes in Africa. An emerging data protection framework pushed by the EU has the potential to mitigate their impact. Other means of protecting human rights require a united approach by the African Union and a deconstruction of digital capitalism and dependence relations between African states and the Global North." (Abstract)
more
"This report compares the impact of legislation in countries with multiparty legislatures and independent government institutions, and countries with one dominant political force and an absence of independent national institutions. It finds that in the former countries, provisions are included to sa
...
feguard human rights and democratic practices, in particular freedom of expression, whilst international conventions are adhered to and aligned with human rights principles. In contrast, the latter countries place the authority of the state at the centre of dis-information laws, and their interpretation of what constitutes fake news is often vaguely-worded. To address these issues, a set of recommendations are prescribed to governments in the region to adhere to the international obligations, set up independent institutions, ensure multi-stakeholder collaboration, and seek expert advise the conditions to regard when implementing national legislation, policies and practices." (Abstract, page 61)
more
"The bulk of this report is based on data collected by a survey of more than 80,000 people in 40 markets and reflects media usage in January/February just before the coronavirus hit many of these countries. But the key trends that we document here, including changes in how people access news, low tr
...
ust, and rising concern about misinformation have been a backdrop against which journalists, editors, politicians, and public health officials have been battling to reach ordinary people with key messages over the last few months. We know that this crisis has substantially increased the amount and frequency of news consumption as well as influenced attitudes to the news media, at least temporarily. We’ve captured this in a second set of polling data collected in April when the crisis was at its peak in some countries. This has helped us to see the impact of the crisis in terms of sources of news and also reminded us of the critical role that the news media play at times of national crisis, including documenting that people who rely on news media are better informed about the virus than those who do not. While many media companies have been enjoying record audience figures, news fatigue is also setting in, and the short-term and long-term economic impact of the crisis is likely to be profound – advertising budgets are slashed and a recession looms, threatening news media, some of whom are struggling with adapting to a changing world. Against this background, this year’s report also focuses on the shift towards paying for online news in many countries across the world, with detailed analysis of progress in three countries (the UK, USA, and Norway). This year, our report carries important data about the extent to which people value and trust local news, perhaps the sector most vulnerable to the economic shocks that will inevitably follow the health crisis itself. And we also explore the way people access news about climate change as well as attitudes to media coverage for the first time." (Foreword)
more
"In its 2020 presidential and legislative elections, Taiwan combatted and defeated Chinese propaganda and disinformation through a whole-of-society approach, one in which the government became better at debunking fake news and raising awareness of these attacks; civil society became more alert and c
...
reated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to detect, debunk, and block fake news online; and companies such as Facebook and LINE (similar to WhatsApp) became faster at finding and removing fake accounts and disinformation. Using Taiwan’s most recent elections as an example to elucidate the nature of Chinese propaganda and disinformation, this report identifies China’s motives, tactics, and actors in its foreign information warfare. Similar to Russia’s, China’s motives are to destabilize democracy and weaken governance in a target country by sowing doubts and chaos in its society, undermining its self-confidence, and increasing polarization and disunity. Its tactics include the following: 1) worsen existing social, political, economic, and generational divides; 2) exploit weaknesses in the informational system; 3) financially control and absorb traditional media; 4) employ its cyber army; 5) obfuscate the attack source through technological, commercial, and legal means; and 6) make the attacks partisan so that one side will at worst not condemn it and at best magnify the effects of its attacks. Its actors are the Chinese Cyberspace Administration, Central Propaganda Department, United Front Department, People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force, State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, 50-Cent Party (cyber army) and its content farms, and provinces, as well as agents from the target country employed by the Chinese government." (Executive summary, page 5)
more
"Pervasive media censorship in China is often seen as a strictly political issue. Although in past years reporters have had leeway to report on economic issues, the Chinese Party/state has moved to tamp down economic journalism, even arresting those who report on bad economic news. This shift brings
...
to the fore an issue long ignored by social scientists – economic censorship. Economic censorship takes place when state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or large private companies pressure the state to censor negative reports or directly pay off media companies to quash such reports in favor of more positive ones. Such economic censorship distorts markets and shifts investor money away from new market entrants and towards large, well-resourced and well-connected SOEs. Using a database of Chinese newspaper articles from 2004 to 2006 and a separate database of newspaper articles, blog posts and micro-blog posts from 2010, and supplemented by secondary sources, this paper examines how media coverage is distorted by censorship and corruption to the benefit of China’s entrenched interests. In particular, I find that private and provincially owned companies receive much more press coverage than do their central government (SASAC) owned equivalents, controlling for a number of factors." (Abstract)
more
"This book discusses the development strategies of Chinese media convergence in the current, fast-changing communication environment. Drawing on both theoretical and empirical data and based on the author's observations, focus groups, and in-depth analyses of selected Chinese radio and TV networks,
...
it illustrates key lessons for the maintenance and future improvement of talents, advertisement, media organization management, business development, and coping strategies. Further, it outlines a framework that helps readers to consider how to use communication strategies for the construction of media convergence in the context of China by referring to theories of international communication and political communication. Presenting research on the development strategies of Chinese media convergence, it offers a systematic study of the processes through which the Chinese radio and television industries make use of proper communication strategies to have a profound global influence." (Publisher description)
more
"This report presents the results of in-depth interviews conducted with eight individuals with recent direct experience inside detention facilities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Findings are based on four face-to-face and four remote interviews conducted between November 201
...
9 and May 2020 [...] Many detainees were unclear about the reasons behind their initial arrests and grappled with why they were targeted. Justifications for detaining interviewees included innocuous differences in appearance or behavior, perceived by the state as indicators of religiosity or Uyghur nationalism. Some got no explanation for their arrests. Two participants heard police directly mention being given quotas or financial incentives for Uyghur arrests [...] Participants recommended that RFA continue to convey the reality of the ongoing repression in the Uyghur region in as transparent and high-profile a way as possible. Participants said that international coverage failed to present the reality of Uyghurs’ experiences in the XUAR in sufficient scale and depth. To address this, they recommended that RFA: Continues to provide detailed, factually strong reports about conditions within the XUAR, supported by photographic and video materials whenever possible; Focus on original reporting rather than translating reports from other outlets; Humanize Uyghurs in general and detainees in particular, sharing their real lives and stories, challenging the PRC narrative portraying them as Islamic extremists or terrorists; Broadcast more interviews with émigrés who had direct experience of detention – including those who were detained in pre-trial facilities rather than re-education camps; Translate content into other languages, including Mandarin and Russian." (Executive summary)
more
"This book sheds new light on the study of journalism and communication, considering why and how journalism is studied in the 21st century. It notably offers both an international and interdisciplinary comparison of journalism and communication, examining the history of Chinese and Western journalis
...
m and addressing the similarities and differences between them. Focusing on the education and training of future journalists, it also provides a comprehensive study of news coverage systems in China and in Western countries, including the processing of news sources, attitudes towards news communication and comparative communication scholarship. Researchers of media and journalism will find this a key read, as well as practicing journalists and students of journalism." (Publisher description)
more
"A gradual transition from unconnected, discrete public relations efforts towards a coherent narrative is in progress. This is facilitated by the strengthening framework of cooperation, the change of posture and behaviour by Chinese institutions, the expansion of points of entry into the media envir
...
onment and the widening range of cooperative actors. Such a shift requires a transition from inconspicuousness to a more open and assertive presence which is presently in train. China’s efforts are further accelerated by the existing structural public and media weaknesses. These range from media proximity to government, which encourages media outlets to uncritically amplify the government’s cooperation agenda, to the collapse of traditional business models. Ownership opaqueness creates yet another opening for outside actors with agendas, as does the endless multiplication of media platforms and web sites. An insatiable hunger for free content offers a further point of entry. Even so, China will be facing some headwinds as it attempts to embed and leverage its media presence. These range from an unsuitable style of interaction to cultural distance. Ideological rigidity is an also an issue. China’s strong presence in the region is becoming more and more apparent, inviting alertness and scrutiny." (Conclusions, page 32)
more
"Political posters, banners, and similar objects are extremely common in China. This article uses political design from contemporary China, particularly emphasising the government’s Chinese Dream campaign, to analyze what at first appears to be a paradox. The subjects of the campaigns and the lang
...
uage they use are mandated by the central government and promoted through central and local publicity departments. But the graphic aspects of these campaigns, such as the choice of colours, images, layout, and typeface, are much less strictly controlled, and are decided by local governments or authorities. This makes political design in China decentralized. Decentralized design is inconsistent with the principles of global marketing and with the PRC’s reliance on set forms of political discourse, both of which rely on the assumption that uniformity will lead to more effective communication of messages and persuasion of the public. Evidence from local design campaigns indeed shows that Chinese political posters are often designed hastily and without expertise, resulting in strange and unpersuasive images. Despite this, this article shows that decentralized design is not paradoxical. This is largely because the Chinese party-state uses propaganda as a method of “signalling” its overall power, more than as a tool of indoctrination or persuasion about particular topics." (Abstract)
more
"With e-learning technologies evolving and expanding at high rates, organizations and institutions around the world are integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open educational resources (OERs). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South explores the initiatives that are leveragi
...
ng these flexible systems to educate, train, and empower populations previously denied access to such opportunities. Featuring contributors leading efforts in rapidly changing nations and regions, this wide-ranging collection grapples with accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, learner motivation and attrition, and numerous other issues. The provocative narratives curated in this volume demonstrate how MOOCs and OER can be effectively designed and implemented in vastly different ways in particular settings, as detailed by experts from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific/Oceania, and the Caribbean. This comprehensive text is an essential resource for policy makers, instructional designers, practitioners, administrators, and other MOOC and OER community stakeholders." (Publisher description)
more
"This study of 'independent' animation opens up a quietly subversive and vibrant dimension of contemporary Chinese culture which, hitherto, has not received as much attention as dissident art or political activism. Scholarly interest in Chinese animation has increased over the last decade, with atte
...
ntion paid to the conventional media circle of production, distribution and consumption. The 'independent' sector has been largely ignored however, until now. By focusing on distinctive independent artists like Pisan and Lei Lei, and situating their work within the present day media ecology, the author examines the relationship between the genre and the sociocultural transformation of contemporary China. Animation, the author argues, has a special significance, as the nature of the animation text is itself multilayered and given to multiple interpretations and avenues of engagement. Through an examination of the affordances of this 'independent' media entity, the author explores how this multifaceted cultural form reveals ambiguities that parallel contradictions in art and society. In so doing, independent animation provides a convenient 'mirror' for examining how recent social upheavals have been negotiated, and how certain practitioners have found effective ways for discussing the post-Socialist reality within the current political configuration." (Publisher description)
more
"Since the 1950s, Chinese foreign aid has been influenced by and linked with China’s investment, trade, and foreign policy objectives. Partly as a result, it has also been fairly opaque. However, as Chinese aid (and loans) have increased in volume and significance, and as China’s economic status
...
has improved, this opacity has become more challenging for recipient countries to manage. The creation of China’s International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) in 2018 can be seen as a concerted move by China to allay these concerns by making a stronger commitment towards a clearer distinction among the various types of Chinese financial flows. However, it remains difficult for recipient countries to navigate the system. This note aims to help recipient countries understand Chinese aid management and structures by providing an overview of those structures and what they mean for the future of aid from China. The note takes into account two key shifts in Chinese aid management in recent years: the formation of CIDCA, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)." (Summary)
more