Authoritarian Persuasion at Home and Abroad: The Partial Effectiveness of Foreign Influencers in Propaganda Work

How do authoritarian regimes make propaganda persuasive? This study evaluates the impact of foreign influencers in propaganda. Social media videos and state broadcasts from countries such as Russia and China often feature sympathetic Westerners, yet their effects on audiences remain unclear. We conducted two survey experiments with 4800 respondents in China and the United States. Participants viewed soft propaganda videos in which either an American or a Chinese influencer described their feelings of freedom in China. The results reveal that foreign influencers did not persuade Chinese audiences but Americans evaluated pro-China messages more favorably when delivered by a fellow American. This suggests foreign influencers improve perceptions of authoritarian rule among their co-nationals, but not within such regimes. Our findings show how autocracies can build global support through foreign influencers, which, given heightened geopolitical competition and the emergence of social media as a dominant news source, has implications for democratic resilience.