Iran has used the short video app Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to spread propaganda about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while Chinese state media outlets have shared the Iranian propaganda, spread via Douyin, to promote a pro-Hamas and pro-Iran narrative.
Far from the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a battle for the hearts and minds of China's 1.4 billion people is being waged on Chinese social media platforms, where both the Iranian and Israeli embassies are active players.
On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of October 23, at least 4,600 people have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, while 1,400 people were killed in Israel, with 212 taken into Gaza as hostages, according to Reuters.
The conflict has ratcheted up the tension between Israel and Iran, which has a long history of supporting Hamas, an Islamist political and military organization that runs the Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Islamist political party and militant group.
Israel's Economy Minister Nir Barkat threatened in an interview published on Saturday to "wipe" Iran and Lebanon "off the face of the Earth" if Hezbollah opened up a northern front in the Hamas war.
On Chinese social media, the Iranian Embassy has backed Hamas' attack on Israel while blaming the U.S. for tensions in the Middle East.
On Douyin, Iran's short and curated videos of destroyed buildings in Gaza have allowed Tehran to spread a pro-Hamas narrative while condemning Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Iranian Embassy's videos on Douyin have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
The Iranian Embassy in China has also used Douyin to share the visuals of the attack on Gaza to try to sway Chinese public opinion in favor of Hamas. The Iranian Embassy in Beijing posted on Douyin in support of its campaign to have Israel designated as a "terrorist" nation.
"Iran believes: Israel must be internationally designated as a terrorist," the Embassy said, posting a video message and visuals of what appeared to be the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on October 17.
Palestinian officials blamed Israeli air strikes for the attack that they said killed hundreds of people. Israel, however, released a video that it said showed that a failed rocket launch by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group, had caused the explosion.
On October 18, President Joe Biden said the U.S. assessment suggested that the blast was caused by an "errant rocket fired by a terrorist group from Gaza."
Iran's Embassy said on X, formerly Twitter, on October 19 that its followers on Douyin had crossed the one million mark. Iran's China mission now has over 1.3 million followers on Douyin, while the Israeli Embassy has 333,000 followers.
Iran hasn't shied away from attacking the U.S. on Chinese social media over the events in the Middle East. The Iranian Embassy mocked the U.S. media outlet Voice of America for being puzzled about support in China for Iran over Israel.
"'Voice of America' is very puzzled regarding the Gaza issue, why do Chinese netizens not buy into the Weibo posted by Israel but express their support for Iran's Weibo?" said the Iranian Embassy on Weibo, China's version of X, while bashing both Israel and the U.S.
Iran's social media campaign on Douyin and other platforms has been effective as Chinese state media have repeated the claims by Iran's Embassy in China and the Iranian state media from everything about the current situation in Gaza to anti-Semitic messaging.
"The Iranian Embassy in China released a video: What is hell on earth? Hell looks like Gaza after Israeli bombing," Chinese state media outlet Guancha said in a post, accompanied by a video.
The anti-Semitic messaging spread by Iranian media has poured into Chinese internet spaces as people in China try to make sense of the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow in the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, has suggested on X that Chinese state media have picked up the anti-Semitic messaging from Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Douyin, an anti-Semitic image shared by the Iranian Embassy shows rockets falling on Gaza popping out from the hair of a person intended to represent a Jew. The same image was widely reshared on other Chinese social media platforms.
While Iran's Embassy has a significant presence on Douyin, the Israeli Embassy has more followers on China's social networking site Weibo.
The Israeli Embassy in China has over 2.4 million followers on Weibo, while the Iranian Embassy in China has 580,000 followers. Just as on Douyin, both sides have engaged in a similar war of narratives on Weibo, where Israel has been posting messages about the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip while the Iranian side has posted visuals of the bombing of Gaza.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has avoided mentioning Hamas while maintaining a distance from Israel, a U.S. ally. China, which has strong political and trade ties with Iran, is positioning itself as a peace broker in the Middle East conflict, but has yet to condemn the Hamas militants who sparked the crisis.
"I'm just curious why China refused to say the word 'Hamas'? It's the organization that runs Gaza," a journalist from Bloomberg asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
The spokesperson responded, "Our position on the current situation is very clear."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
