The Olympic game field for disinformation - Chinese-language rumors about the 2024 Paris Olympics
The Olympic game field for disinformation - Chinese-language rumors about the 2024 Paris Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games have also turned into a game field for rumors. Though there are some similarities, the rumors circulating in Chinese and English are somewhat different. While false information about the gender issue of boxing athletes and terrorism threats afflicted the English-language world, the Chinese counterpart has seen unfounded claims and propaganda praising Chinese police and technology's contribution to the safety of the Paris Olympics and the "possible signs of doping" of American swimmers. The former is primarily shared via social media platforms in Chinese. However, the latter has gained traction in English-language media and on online platforms.
As pro-Kremlin and far-right sources promoted disinformation about potential terrorist attacks on the Paris Olympics and soaring street crime in Paris, Chinese social media echoed the Russian narratives with false stories of frightening crimes and attacks on Olympic athletes in Paris. For example, multiple clips on the Chinese short-video platforms Kuaishou and Douyin conveyed the same story: a boxing coach from an Olympic team was robbed and beaten to death. In a separate incident, the US team's portable air conditioners were stolen, causing an American athlete to suffer from heat stroke and eventually die in the Olympic Village.
As a matter of fact, no American athlete died from heat stroke, nor did a boxing coach have a violent encounter and lose his life to the robbery incident. During the Paris Olympics, a boxing coach from Samoa passed away, but the cause of death was due to natural causes.
Nonetheless, portraying Paris as a dangerous city and a target of terrorism provides an opportunity for Chinese propaganda to boast about China's ability to "maintain social order" and its contribution to international events. These articles and videos shared the same content or hashtags, such as "the powerful Chinese security [中國安保力量強大]."
Chinese rumours fabricate role in Paris Olympic security to bolster national image
According to the unfounded stories, French President Emmanuel Macron asked China to assist France with Chinese anti-terrorism technology and maintain security during the Olympic games. For the benefit of the entire world, the Chinese government dispatched 1160 anti-terrorism professionals and equipped the Olympic Games with satellite surveillance systems and facial recognition technology based on China's big data system. Due to the superior Chinese anti-terrorism team and technology, 120 terrorists were arrested in Paris. The French police were extremely impressed by China's advanced surveillance and facial recognition technologies. Even Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, acknowledged China's assistance in keeping the Paris Olympic Games safe.
In reality, the Chinese police did not participate in the multi-national police team at the Paris Olympic Games. According to the Taiwan FactCheck Center's investigation, almost 1,800 foreign police officers from 40 countries were in France to help maintain security. However, China was not one of the 40 countries. As for the arrest of terrorists, the French authorities did arrest one Russian man for plotting an assault on the Olympic Games. However, there was no mention of more than 120 terrorists being arrested in France thanks to China's facial recognition technology.
A screenshot from a Douyin video in which the narrator claimed, "With China’s anti-terrorism forces guarding Paris, those who want to cause trouble would not dare to make any move."
The fabricated claim about how Chinese anti-terrorism experts and surveillance technology help arrest terrorists was mostly disseminated in simplified Chinese on Chinese video platforms and spread to Facebook and LINE. This claim seems to show Chinese-language audiences that China is a "Great Power [大國]" motherland. Nevertheless, it ignores the global concern about privacy issues generated by monitoring technologies.
On the other hand, several assertions about doping issues between China and the United States have aimed not only at Chinese viewers but also at English-speaking audiences.
After April 2024, when the New York Times revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance seven months before the Tokyo Olympic Games but were still allowed to compete, the Chinese government maintained a low profile and suppressed the discussion of this topic online. Meanwhile, the revelation has triggered massive anger among American athletes, an investigation opened by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and threats from US lawmakers to cut funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Chinese media propagates doping allegations against US swimmers
Since the US DOJ launched an investigation into the doping scandal involving Chinese athletes in July, Chinese media has disseminated rumors that the US will likely utilize its laws to arrest the 23 Chinese swimmers during the Paris Olympic Games. According to the false information, the UK news agency Reuters broke the story about the likely arrest. According to the investigation by the Asia Fact Check Lab, Reuters published no information about the "possible arrest" of Chinese swimmers by US authorities. A relevant Reuters report just said that the US DOJ opened an inquiry and discussed the Rodchenkov Act, a law that broadens US jurisdiction to investigate doping-related offenses. Nonetheless, this Chinese story has spread through Taiwanese and overseas Chinese media.
The outrage among Chinese netizens over doping rumors had been simmering since late July when a nutritionist for the Chinese swim team complained on Weibo that Chinese swimmers at the Paris Olympics were routinely requested to take anti-doping tests. This tweet quickly sparked another round of anger among Chinese netizens and was quoted by the Chinese propaganda website Guancha.cn.
Until then, the false information about the DOJ's arrest of Chinese swimmers and the complaint about the frequent drug tests on Chinese athletes were primarily circulated in Chinese. However, as the swimming competitions began, the allegations against the United States escalated: the claims were spread not only in Chinese media but on English websites and social media; the accusations were directed not only at American athletes but also at American media.
The rumor centered on the phenomenon of American swimmers' faces turning purple right after the competitions. Chinese netizens asserted that the purple faces were a sign that American swimmers used banned substances. This claim was soon promoted by Chinese influencers on social media and went viral. For example, the topic "What is the American swim team's purple face[美国游泳队紫脸到底是什么]?" once topped Weibo's "Hot Search" list and garnered 67 million views until August 17, when this analysis was written.
Till August 17, the topic of "What is the American swim team's purple face?" topped Weibo's "Hot Search" list, accumulating 67 million views and 77,000 interactions.
The Chinese state media has also broken its silence in recent months, publishing articles questioning whether US swimmers used drugs during the Olympics. For example, CCTV produced an article asking "six shocking questions" about "US doping scandals." One of the questions concerned American swimmers' purple faces. The story stated that American media outlets purposefully changed the color of photos and made American swimmers' faces appear white (the original text is "美媒特意调了色，把自己运动员的紫脸P白了"). The piece then contrasted an "adjusted picture" from AP with one from Reuters.
A screenshot of the CCTV article titled "The Olympics are over, and these shocking questions about 'The US, the doping country' cannot be left unanswered." The article contrasted AP's "adjusted photo" (on the left) against Reuter's photo (on the right).
In addition to Chinese-language coverage, the English edition of Global Times, China's state media famed for its tabloid-style reporting, published an article about the widespread suspicion caused by American swimmers' purple faces. Later, the Global Times published another item stating that the US Embassy in China had posted a color-adjusted photo on Weibo to congratulate US swimmers.
Until August 17, when this analysis was written, the US Embassy's Weibo account had posted a statement that the Embassy did not post photoshopped images. (The Taiwan FactCheck Center published its fact-check on the "purple face" claim on August 21.) However, social media posts written in English questioning whether the purple faces could be the result of doping appeared on websites such as Reddit, Quora, and TikTok. Some YouTube influencers interviewed experts to explain the causes of purple faces, but others disputed the explanation and argued certain drugs could cause purple faces. The statement from English-speaking YouTubers claiming the purple faces were caused by drugs was again translated into Chinese and quoted by Chinese netizens.
Gender disinformation targets Olympic boxers
Aside from the Olympic Games' safety issue and the doping controversy, gender issues, particularly the eligibility of two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, sparked extensive disinformation during the Paris Olympics.
For example, incorrect allegations in English circulated on X that Khelif and Lin were once males or are transsexual. Compared to the abundance of disinformation in English, major media and social media sites popular with Chinese speakers have witnessed fewer hostile disinformation attacks on the two boxers. One possible reason is that Lin Yu-ting is from Taiwan and has received widespread support from the Taiwanese. Therefore, any unfavorable comments about Lin or the gender issue would be surpassed by corrections from Lin's supporters. Even on Chinese social media, posts expressed varying opinions about Lin's participation.
However, there were still false pieces claiming that the Paris Olympics games "advocated for transgender people." Taiwanese media outlets also used a report from the New York Post about Bulgarian-Nigerian boxer Joana Nwamerue's statement on Kheif's identity, but without mentioning that the New York Post article also called Nwamerue's statement "bizarre" and clarified in the same article that "Khelif is not transgender and was born a woman."
Another popular disinformation theme disseminated in Taiwanese and Chinese media during the Olympics was false anecdotes about medalists, such as Turkish sports shooter Yusuf Dikeç, who won a silver medal and became an internet sensation for his relaxed attitude. An altered interview video spread on YouTube, Facebook, and the Chinese video platform Bilibili, in which Dikeç said he was accidentally asked to join the Paris Olympics when he was on a business trip in Pairs a few days earlier. This manipulated video was added with fabricated Chinese subtitles and distorted the original interview.
The 2024 Paris Olympics closed on August 11. However, certain disinformation and rumors continue to spread. In particular, the continuing doping argument between China and the United States has fueled a new wave of nationalism. For the next few weeks, claims about the controversies will remain worth observing.
Wei-Ping Li is a research fellow at the Taiwan FactCheck Center.
Mary Ma (a fact-checker at the Taiwan FactCheck Center) contributed to this analysis.
Updated on August 21: Added TFC's fact-check on the "purple face" claim.
