RSF warns China building influencer network on Greek social media
Synopsis
Reporters Without Borders has flagged a covert CCP-linked influencer network operating on Greek social media — one that avoids outright lies, instead using omission and selective framing to soften Greek audiences toward Beijing's interests in Piraeus, the Belt and Road Initiative, and EU relations. The report arrives as Chinese state media already holds cooperation agreements with two Greek news agencies and a leading newspaper.
Key Takeaways
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is cultivating a covert influencer network on Greek social media .
Influencers reportedly do not disclose affiliations with CCP institutions and use omission rather than falsehoods to shape narratives.
Activity reportedly spiked after the Chinese Embassy criticised US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle on 19 November 2025 over her comments on Piraeus port .
Chinese state agency Xinhua has cooperation agreements with Greece's AMNA (signed 2016 ) and leading newspaper Kathimerini (signed 2017 ); Kathimerini republished at least 66 Xinhua articles in 2020 .
RSF has called on Greek authorities to investigate the financial flows linking influencers to Chinese propaganda networks.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a leading international press freedom organisation, has warned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is quietly cultivating a network of social media influencers to amplify Beijing's narrative on Greek platforms — while concealing their financial ties to Chinese propaganda networks. The warning, issued from Paris, calls on Greek authorities to investigate whether these influencers are part of a broader foreign interference operation.
How the Network Operates
According to Thanos Sitistas, founder of Greece Fact Check, the activity is subtle by design. 'Much of the material we examined did not rely on outright falsehoods. Instead, these social media accounts do not disclose their affiliations and advertising arrangements with CCP institutions,' Sitistas said. He noted that politically sensitive subjects — such as the status of Xinjiang (referred to in some circles as East Turkestan) — are handled through 'omission and selective presentation rather than direct arguments.'
Sitistas cited a specific example: posts by three influencers on the Xinjiang region 'highlighted cultural imagery and portrayed Uyghur residents as happy and prosperous, while well-documented allegations of their mass detention and coercive assimilation were omitted.' The pattern of activity reportedly intensified following a Chinese Embassy statement on 19 November 2025, which criticised US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle for calling Beijing's influence over Piraeus port — Greece's largest — 'unfortunate.'
The Strategic Objective
The apparent goal, according to Sitistas, is to build a favourable image of China as 'modern, peaceful, safe and technologically advanced.' He assessed that this messaging 'can make audiences less receptive to criticism of Beijing and more supportive of Chinese interests around Piraeus, the Belt and Road Initiative and relations with the EU.' RSF has called on Greek authorities to examine the financial flows connecting these influencers to CCP-linked networks to determine the full scope of the campaign.
Beijing's Deepening Ties With Greek Media
The RSF report situates the influencer network within a broader pattern of Chinese media engagement in Greece that has expanded alongside Beijing's economic footprint in the country. In 2016, Chinese state news agency Xinhua signed a cooperation agreement with Greece's state news agency, the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA). A second agreement followed in 2017 between AMNA and the China Economic Information Service (CEIS), a Xinhua affiliate.
That same year, Kathimerini, one of Greece's most prominent newspapers, also signed a cooperation agreement with Xinhua. Although the terms were not publicly disclosed, a subsequent study found that Kathimerini republished at least one Xinhua report per week in 2020, totalling 66 articles. RSF noted that some major Greek outlets engaged in such agreements have ownership or business ties to sectors with significant Chinese links.
Silence in Greek Newsrooms
An Athens-based independent journalist, speaking to RSF on condition of anonymity, described a climate of self-censorship: 'That's why there is almost no reporting on what these Chinese investments actually mean for our country's independence.' Critics argue that undisclosed commercial entanglements between Greek media and Chinese state-affiliated entities create structural incentives to avoid scrutiny of Beijing's role in the country's economy and infrastructure.
As Chinese economic influence through Piraeus and the Belt and Road Initiative continues to grow, RSF's findings suggest the information environment surrounding that presence is being shaped — quietly and systematically — in Beijing's favour.
Point of View
Just strategic silence on Xinjiang, Uyghur detention, and the real terms of Chinese investment in Piraeus. Greece is a useful case study: a NATO member, an EU state, and the owner of Europe's busiest port, now majority-controlled by a Chinese firm. If Chinese-affiliated accounts can quietly shape Greek public opinion on that port's ownership without triggering media scrutiny, the broader European information ecosystem has a vulnerability it is yet to seriously reckon with. The fact that a leading Greek newspaper republished 66 Xinhua articles in a single year — under an agreement whose terms were never disclosed — points to a structural problem that RSF's call for a financial investigation alone will not resolve.
NationPress
3 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What has Reporters Without Borders warned about China and Greece?
RSF has warned that the Chinese Communist Party is quietly building a network of social media influencers in Greece to amplify pro-Beijing narratives without disclosing their ties to CCP institutions. The organisation has called on Greek authorities to investigate the financial links between these influencers and Chinese propaganda networks.
How do these Chinese-linked influencers operate on Greek social media?
According to Greece Fact Check founder Thanos Sitistas, the accounts avoid outright falsehoods and instead rely on omission and selective presentation. For example, posts on Xinjiang showed cultural imagery portraying Uyghur residents positively while omitting documented allegations of mass detention and coercive assimilation.
What is China's interest in shaping Greek public opinion?
Sitistas assessed that the influencer campaign aims to make Greek audiences more supportive of Chinese interests around Piraeus port, the Belt and Road Initiative, and China-EU relations. China's state-owned company controls Piraeus, Greece's largest port, making Greek public opinion strategically important to Beijing.
Does China have formal agreements with Greek media organisations?
Yes. Chinese state agency Xinhua signed cooperation agreements with Greece's state news agency AMNA in 2016, with CEIS (a Xinhua affiliate) in 2017, and with newspaper Kathimerini also in 2017. Kathimerini republished at least 66 Xinhua articles in 2020, though the terms of its agreement were never publicly disclosed.
Why is there limited Greek media coverage of Chinese investment in the country?
An Athens-based journalist told RSF anonymously that ownership and business ties between some major Greek outlets and sectors linked to China create a climate in which reporting on the implications of Chinese investment is largely absent. RSF noted this as a structural concern tied to undisclosed commercial entanglements.
