This text was published by MEDDMO, one of fifteen EDMO Hubs.
Behind seemingly harmless videos of young Chinese women speaking fluent Greek, sharing everyday moments, cultural stories and cheerful messages about China, a more complex influence operation appears to be taking shape. A network of Greek-language social media accounts, some officially labelled by Meta as China state-controlled media, has built a significant audience in Greece and Cyprus through polished lifestyle content, paid promotion and a carefully cultivated image of authenticity — while maintaining links to Chinese state media and amplifying narratives favourable to Beijing.
Chinese content creators In the case of China, propaganda on social media platforms such as Facebook often does not appear as political or state-driven communication. Instead, it is channelled through female influencers who show entirely everyday and seemingly authentic moments. One key element is what is known as “role concealment.” Many of these content creators present themselves as travel vloggers, food bloggers, or people simply showing their life in China. However, in several cases, it has been revealed that they are linked to, or cooperate with Chinese state media.
