Lee and Oli Barrett
Lee and Oli Barrett are a pair of British YouTubers based in Shenzhen, China.
Lee is the father and had lived in China for a period since before 2019. Oli, the son, formerly operated a YouTube channel related to Call of Duty and moved to China in 2019.[1] Their channel was established circa June 2019. By May 2020 the two had 100,000 subscribers.[2] By June 2021, they had 29 million views.[3] By July of the same year, Lee Barrett was working as a stringer for China Global Television Network.[4]
Content[]
The Barretts make content supporting the Chinese government and its surveillance programme, state that the Xinjiang concentration camps are not harmful, and that Western media is not telling the truth.[3] Ethan Paul of the South China Morning Post wrote that "Defending China" was "The key to their rapid audience expansion".[2] Ellery and Knowles wrote that as the YouTubers took stances firmer in support of the Chinese government, "the number of subscribers increased exponentially".[1] The two argued against the description "pro-democracy" for the anti-Hong Kong government protesters in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, and that the Xinjiang internment camps are positive.[1]
See also[]
- Britons in China
- Afu Thomas - German social media figure in China
- Raz Gal-Or - Israeli social media figure in China
- Dashan - Canadian television personality in China
- David Gulasi - Australian internet celebrity active in China
- Amy Lyons - Australian internet celebrity active in China
- Winston Sterzel - South African social media figure in China
- China–United Kingdom relations
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Ellery, Ben; Knowles, Tom (2020-01-09). "Beijing funds British YouTubers to further its propaganda war". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Paul, Ethan (2020-10-29). "US-China friction turns into YouTube fame (and laughs) for online influencers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2020-01-19. - Alternate link at Yahoo Sports
- ^ Jump up to: a b Parker, Charlie (2021-06-16). "China state TV channel CGTN enlists UK student influencers". The Times. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Allen, Kerry; Williams, Sophie (2021-07-10). "The foreigners in China's disinformation drive". BBC News. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- People from Shenzhen
- Living people
- Video bloggers
- British expatriates in China