Influencers paid by China for campaign promoting Winter Olympics

REAL Housewives Of Beverly Hills TV star, a Paralympic swimmer and a self-described “brand king” were among the Instagram and TikTok influencers paid by Chinese officials for a discreet campaign promoting the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The social media posts fanned across a variety of popular Instagram and TikTok accounts with a combined following of five million people who can see their videos, photos and content about travel destinations, sports, fashion and women’s issues.

The Chinese consulate in New York paid $300,000 (about £230,000) to New Jersey-based firm Vippi Media to recruit the influencers. The posts were not properly labelled as adverts in the way TikTok and Instagram require.

“It allows them to boost the reach and the resonance of their messaging to make it appear to be authentic, independent content,” Jessica Brandt, a Brookings Institution expert on foreign interference and disinformation said of China’s social media campaign.

More details were disclosed in filings with the Justice Department on Monday, just days after an Associated Press examination revealed China is using a sweeping network of influencers and social media accounts to proffer propaganda to users around the globe.

The AP’s reporting found Vippi Media had not yet filed updates with the Justice Department on its influencer campaign, even though federal law requires the company to do so within 24 hours of materials being disseminated.

The company had registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law meant to allow Americans to know when foreign entities are trying to influence public opinion or policy makers.

Vippi Media’s campaign, targeted at US social media users, reached roughly four million people with adverts scattered in stories, videos and posts across TikTok and Instagram.