CNN host Van Jones and the rapper known as will.i.am are teaming up with China’s Huawei to lead a virtual panel discussion about the rise of disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s right. A Chinese tech giant is sponsoring a coronavirus disinformation panel. And it will be headlined by a CNN anchor.
Huawei announced Monday that the free webinar will take place Wednesday at 2 p.m. E.T., and will focus on how disinformation about the coronavirus disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.
“Since the 2016 general election, Americans have faced an endless barrage of misinformation designed to undermine democratic values and sow social division among various communities,” Huawei said in its announcement. “Now in the face of a global pandemic, the misinformation tide continues to rise, hitting African Americans, as well as Asian, Hispanic, rural and lower-income Americans particularly hard.”
Huawei, which is the largest maker of telecom equipment in the world, has come under intense scrutiny as the Trump administration has sought to block its 5G equipment from being used in domestic networks due to concerns over spying.”If Huawei is embedded in 5G networks, they’ll scoop up the world’s data,” Gordon Chang, a China expert, told Breitbart News.
While Huawei claims that it is privately owned, it is widely believed that China’s ruling Communist Party exerts significant influence over the company’s operations.
Huawei’s coronavirus panel comes as China carries out a massive disinformation campaign seeking to deflect responsibility for its role in the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan. Beijing has created an army of fake and hijacked social media accounts aimed at spreading Chinese propaganda about the virus.
Communist Party officials are also coming under fire for their discriminatory treatment of Africans living in China. Human Rights Watch has accused China of mistreating African immigrants, including forcing them into quarantine and denying them entrance to certain public areas.
CNN has also received criticism for parroting official Chinese propaganda. Last month, the left-wing cable news outlet ran an online article about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), citing China’s state-controlled Global Times as its source.
Wednesday’s Huawei panel will also feature broadcast journalist Roland S. Martin, who is a former CNN contributor.
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