On TikTok and Instagram, the West Is Falling Behind

How Short Videos, Also Known as “Reels”, Demonize the Democratic World

The storytelling may vary, but the messages remain the same: The West is evil, decadent, in decay, and responsible for everything bad happening in this world. On the other side we have the “resistance” against “collective Western hegemony”, the “postcolonial defenders”, including Iran, China, Russia, and even North Korea. According to several influencers on TikTok and Instagram, “Western media” is, of course, constantly lying about them, and they are actually “the good guys”. It is impossible to give an accurate overview of all the anti-Western narratives. Too many are circulating, subtle and overt, in every shape imaginable. The narratives change quickly, but the underlying message rarely does. They work well because they provoke, spread quickly, are in many cases amplified by foreign actors, and are simple.

Provocation means a lot in the world of social media postmodernism, so the question is for instance no longer only “Do you support Palestine?”; now the benchmark is: are you ready to recognize Hamas as part of the “Resistance”?

For years, more subtly operating travel influencers tried to convince us that China is the future, but even this narrative is not good enough anymore. Now Russia, Iran, and North Korea need to be supported as well, as they serve as an important part of the axis against “Western hegemony”. It does not matter how aggressive a dictatorship is towards its neighbors or how oppressive it is against its own citizens, as long as it has a clear stance against “Western colonialism and imperialism”. And do not even dare to criticize that, because “once a colonizer, always a colonizer”, and in their view only Western countries were ever guilty of colonialism and imperialism. One user commented on Instagram: “If Europeans stayed in their own land, the world would be so much better now.” When asked about all the problems connected to places without any Europeans, the user responded that Europeans brought all the negative things like greed, corruption, and evil, as if these were exclusively European behaviors.

One example of a provocative speech that went viral is Zimbabwean speaker and self proclaimed “Pan-African” philosopher Maponga Mara Rah (actually Joshua Marara Maponga III). He says in one video, translated into several languages: “Africa does not need democracy, this is a smokescreen of lies, which allows imperialism and neocolonialism to continue, Africa needs dictators, Africa needs military dictators”. Repeatedly he praised Burkina Faso’s military ruler Ibrahim Traoré and has publicly expressed support for his leadership. Traoré is known for banning homosexuality, his alliance with Russia, and coming to power through a military coup d’état.

Not Only Postcolonial Far Left “Tankies” Are Responsible for Anti-Westernism on Social Media

Twenty-first century China made the unthinkable possible: uniting far left anti-capitalists and ultra libertarians in the belief that it is a great, superior country that represents the future. Russia has a different role. While it serves as a “protector of traditional values” for the far right, the far left sees it as an important counterpart to the imperialist EU and the USA, as well as a partner of the Global South. Conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, do not even bother to care about left or right. They prefer “alternative”, in the sense of an alternative reality. In their reality, any kind of dictator is more of a democrat than our politicians, and indeed the system, our system, liberal democracy, is deeply flawed, flawed to such an extent that anything else is automatically better. This creates unlikely alliances between groups that would otherwise have little in common.

Where Are the Defenders of Western Liberal Democracy?

The motives and ideological backgrounds of the influencers, trolls, and channels that disseminate anti-Western narratives are diverse. At first glance, many of them even appear contradictory. They include the far left, the far right, conspiracy theorists, and people with radical religious views. What they have in common is their opposition to liberal democracy or to the countries that represent liberal democracy on the international stage.

The fact that freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the rule of law, human rights, and free elections are exclusively guaranteed in liberal democracies is often forgotten. Instead, real or invented historical and present-day Western wrongdoings are constantly amplified, while the crimes of others are ignored, denied, or even praised. What could be legitimate self criticism has become an attempt at the self destruction of our civilization. Huge parts of the postcolonial movement aim not only to understand non Western perspectives, they absorb them, including the most radical ones.

While extreme views, such as praising Stalin, Mao, the Russian invasion, North Korea, or the Iranian regime, are still confined to a (unfortunately growing) niche, a general anti-Western stance has become mainstream on social media. If people are not willing to support the most radical ideologies or dictatorships, they should at least be unwilling to defend their own civilization.

The polarization and division of society are visible in the comment sections of every social media platform. While a large part of it is artificially amplified by authoritarian regimes and their troll farms, domestic actors also play a significant role in dividing society and disrupting our democracies. What decades of ideological subversion slowly did to Generation X, we can now witness happening to Millennials and Generation Z in fast forward, thanks to social media and algorithms that promote the most radical postmodern provocations.

What could be legitimate self criticism has become an attempt at the self destruction of our civilization. Huge parts of the postcolonial movement aim not only to understand non Western perspectives, they absorb them, including the most radical ones.

A study by researchers from Yale University and the University of Amsterdam found that while Chinese state media play a significant role in foreign influence operations, pro China foreign influencers on TikTok are considerably more effective at shaping public perceptions of China. In a randomized experiment involving more than 8,500 Americans, the researchers found that influencer content increased favorability toward China, whereas traditional Chinese state media often produced backlash. This shows once again that attacks on our democracies come not only from abroad, but also from within, even when the topic is international politics.

The legitimate and fact-based realization that the West does not have a spotless record, neither in the past nor in the present, has been perverted into unrestrained self-hatred. It has reached the point where even the worst autocratic regimes are downplayed or even glorified. This ongoing and subversive campaign has led to a situation in which hardly anyone is willing to defend the West or the status quo of our liberal democracy, even in the political center of society. The consequences are particularly visible on TikTok and Instagram.

On TikTok and Instagram, the West Is Falling Behind

Not Only Postcolonial Far Left “Tankies” Are Responsible for Anti-Westernism on Social Media

Where Are the Defenders of Western Liberal Democracy?

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