PiYaoBa is the First Chinese Language Fact Check Website to Counter Right Wing Disinformation on WeChat and Beyond
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Chinese for Affirmative Action is excited to announce the launch of PiYaoBa which means “Let’s Fact-Check It.” PiYaoBa is the first Chinese language fact-check website to counter the spread of right-wing disinformation, systematically monitor and document disinformation, and track key actors and narratives across multiple platforms. These include YouTube, Twitter, and WeChat, a Chinese mobile app with 3.8 million users in the United States.
Disinformation fuels harmful narratives within the Chinese-speaking community that perpetuate anti-Blackness and anti-immigrant sentiment, spread mistruths around COVID-19, and advance right-wing conspiracy theories. “Much of the disinformation in the Chinese-speaking community originates from English speaking news and is translated directly from Fox News, the Daily Mail and the New York Post,” says Jinxia Niu, Program Manager for Chinese Digital Engagement. “Chinese students and new Chinese immigrants are fed up with disinformation, and they want a credible source to rely on so that they understand how America works.”
Proliferating on Chinese digital platforms is disinformation relating to COVID-19 and vaccines, critical race theory, immigrants rights, political engagement and election, and community safety issues as it relates to anti-Asian violence. PiYaoBa provides timely fact checking on these issues. Examples include:
- Fact-check false claims that the Uvalde Shooter was trans and an undocumented immigrant
- Fact-check false claims that Harvard admissions of AAPIs increased by 60% after lawsuit
- Fact-check false claims that Biden’s immigration policies led to the shortage of baby formula
PiYaoBa is a direct response to disinformation in the Chinese language community, and since its launch, CAA has identified more than 80 disinformation channels mostly on WeChat and YouTube, mainly run by first-generation Chinese immigrants.
Previously, in 2019, CAA launched our pioneering Chinese Digital Engagement (CDE) program to engage Chinese speakers in the United States on progressive issues like affirmative action, immigration reform, and racial justice. PiYaoBa builds on Justice Patch and three WeChat channels. Since its inception, the CDE team has curated, translated, written, and published 700+ Chinese articles, garnered 20,000+ followers, 600,000+ views on CAA’s fact checking column on WeChat and Justice Patch, and 1.5 million+ views of in-language articles on WeChat.
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