China Using WeChat to Influence Public Opinion, Spread Misinformation in Texas and Florida: Report

The Chinese Communist Party is using WeChat platform and other means to try and influence public policy outcomes in Texas and Florida, a report has revealed.

A report in The Diplomat claimed that the Chinese platform was used to peddle misinformation and a narrative against legislation in Texas that sought to ban companies and citizens from countries including China from purchasing property in the US state.

The misinformation and the false narrative roped in several Chinese and non-Chinese organisations and galvanised opposition to the bill leading to its modification.

Texas Republican State Senator Lois Kolkhorst introduced SB147, a bill aimed at banning companies and citizens from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from purchasing land in Texas in January. The bill received support from Texas Governor Greg Abbot.

The bill was triggered after a former Chinese military officer purchased 140,000 acres of land near Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, Texas in 2021.

However, the next day, WeChat, whose content is regulated by the Chinese Communist Party, became flooded with misinformation about the legislation.

The report said that the messaging platform was full of groups against the SB147 legislation and were running a polarised narrative against the bill.

The groups forbid balanced discussions and kicked out anyone who disagreed while promoting the most radical and anti-American voices.

Those in favour of the bill were labelled as “Chinese traitors” and encouraged users to sabotage pro-SB147 accounts by labelling them as spam, reporting them to the FBI as spies and even assaulting the users behind them, it added.

Meanwhile, on the ground, organizations like the Asian Americans Leadership Council (AALC), whose leader, Ling Luo, is in contact with high ranking CCP officials, mobilized opposition to the bill.

The efforts also led other groups to galvanise opposition to the bill, even to the extent that the anti-SB147 effort found supporters from the Democratic Party politicians including State Representative Gene Wu and US Congresswoman Judy Chu.

As a result of the CCP’s efforts to galvanize opposition to the bill from Chinese speakers and non-Chinese organizations, protests broke out against the bill on January 29 in Dallas and February 11 in Houston.

It led to Senator Lois Kolkhorst modifying the bill on March 1 to ensure it did not prevent dual citizens or legal permanent residents from buying homes near military bases, the report said.

A similar turn of events is also unfolding in Florida, which is also taking up legislation similar to Texas’ SB147.

Earlier this month, Florida’s Senate passed legislation SB264, which prevents China and six other countries from buying or holding an interest in land near strategic sites.

The next day onwards, groups emerged on WeChat with names such as “anti-SB264” or “anti new Chinese Exclusion Act” to oppose the bill. The groups falsely claimed that “anyone with a Chinese last name will be discriminated against when buying a home,” even though it didn’t discriminate any US citizen or lawful permanent resident from buying land.

Meanwhile, WeChat group administrators continue to mobilize people to petition, lobby, protest, speak to the media and attend state hearings to work against the bill, the report said.

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