Misinformation casts shadow on US-China trade truce

From false claims of Americans panic-buying Chinese goods to bot-driven attacks on US brands, a tide of misinformation is casting a shadow over a temporary trade truce between Washington and Beijing.

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WASHINGTON -

The world's two biggest economies agreed earlier in May to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, a surprise de-escalation in their bitter trade war following high-level talks in Geneva.

But an alternate reality is unfolding across social media platforms, including China's Douyin and Weibo, where a surge of falsehoods fuelling anti-American sentiment could undermine the fragile truce.

One online video, which garnered millions of views across those platforms and TikTok, claims to show panicked American shoppers snapping up Chinese-branded television sets in the aftermath of trade tensions.

But in reality, that was old footage from 2018 showing Black Friday shopping frenzy at a US supermarket.

The falsehood was further amplified by Chinese state media outlets, including China Daily, which ran headlines such as: "Americans are starting to stock up like crazy amid tariffs and snapping up Chinese-branded TVs."