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> What "coercion"? China employs internet commentators to influence online opinion[1] - whereas the US does not (as far as anyone can tell).

There are many examples of the US working to influence the internal politics of other countries through media, for instance Radio Free Asia or the National Endowment for Democracy.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/National-Endowment-f...

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What's wrong with influence?

There is a thing called Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe since 1949. It still exists.

I'm not trying to affect an objective morality to say it's "wrong", I'm just saying the US does it too. So let's not get up in arms about supposed Chinese internet commenters or Russian fake news.

Why not get up in arms about it? One is done in support of a flawed nation with democratic and freedom ideals, the other is done in support of a murderous authoritarian regime that wishes to annihilate democracy and freedom. It's perfectly reasonable to be up in arms about it.

Do you want to talk about facts or do you just want to repeat the bedtime stories you’ve internalized?

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