Narratives to escalate.

The most problematic narrative is one calling for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Brands that are committed to sponsoring the event or the participating teams should know the details of this conversation in order to plan for scenarios where fringe factions and conspiracy theorists manage to trade up their narrative and get mainstream media attention.

Narratives to monitor.

Apparel companies are being asked to respond to petitions circulating online, pressuring brands to stop sourcing cotton from the region. Narratives around Uyghur forced labor in solar supply chains have surfaced and may come for brands that rely on or have stood up for solar. Brands with factories in China or that do business with Chinese companies or customers, even outside of Xinjiang, run the risk of getting caught in the crosshairs of these narratives.

Groups involved.

Hong Kong Anti-China Protesters are influencing most of the narratives on this topic that are spreading online. These are typically single-purpose accounts created to amplify a pro-democracy message and anti-China narratives in Hong Kong. The Chinese State Media faction is also engaging with the conversation; however, they have moderate influence. 

(Note: when a faction controls over 1% of a conversation, they’re generally driving its direction overall.)

Narrative authenticity.

Overall, this conversation is inauthentic. 35% of the posts in this conversation are from inauthentic accounts. 1% of posts in this conversation appear to be from automated accounts and post from spam accounts make up 32% of this conversation.