> There have been over 11,000 references of the Mandarin-language term for “gloom filter” across open sources in the past 6 months, with over half of them occurring in the last 30 days. English-language mentions of “BBC underworld filter” have also spiked over the past several weeks, totaling over 56,300 in 6 weeks. [...] We are confident that this uptick results from recent pro-China influencers amplifying the “gloom filter” theory.
> On July 19, 2021, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian asserted across social media that BBC edited the color out of a photo of a popular British pro-China social media “influencer” named Jason Lightfoot, who also goes by the moniker “Living In China”. One post stated, “#GloomFilter comes again! It could be accounted as one of BBC’s familiar supernatural skills, to turn a green and prosperous city into a grey desolation”.
> The volume of activity paired with a clearly identifiable narrative, coordination across the Chinese state-sponsored media apparatus, use of both Mandarin and foreign-language content, use of dozens of fringe media outlets, and the campaign’s alignment with the CCP’s objectives create a clear picture of how the CCP is conducting large-scale information operations to counter criticism and censor foreign media
It doesn't matter whose side you're on folks, the age of trustworthy news and journalism may very well be behind us. We need to equip future generations with the ability to think critically and clearly, challenging any trends driven by "likes" and "shares" with a tremendous amount of skepticism.