African Exploitation Videos Are Big Business on Chinese Social Media

The recent BBC documentary "Racism for Sale" pointed a powerful spotlight on the popular Chinese "blessing video" business that is both highly exploitative and very profitable. These videos feature Africans and people from other developing regions, often including children, conveying messages that are often demeaning.

In the weeks following the release of the documentary, most of the attention on this issue was focused on culprit, a 26-year Chinese man by the name of Lu Ke, and people's shock in Malawi and other African countries where these videos were filmed.

But Viola Zhou, a Hong Kong-based reporter for the online technology magazine Rest of World, looked into the business behind these videos and how the social media platforms, advertisers, and content creators are all making huge profits.

SHOW NOTES:

• Watch Racism for Sale on the BBC's YouTube channel.
• Read Viola Zhou's report: Racist videos about Africans fuel a multimillion-dollar Chinese industry

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