On TikTok, AI-generated 'Russian' women deliver pro-China messages with sales pitch

WASHINGTON — "What Americans are really worried about now is not wars, shootings or homelessness. It’s the puzzling absence of any issues with China," declares a blonde influencer on TikTok, speaking in near-fluent Mandarin.

“A U.S. presidential candidate recently stated that America should learn from China and stop causing trouble,” she added, displaying an image of President Biden.

The influencer, who says her name is Alina and claims to be a Russian living in Singapore, promotes what she says are "high-quality Russian and Chinese products" on her account.

However, the same blonde Russian woman also appears in other posts on TikTok and goes by the name Lisa.

Lisa likes to discuss such topics as “celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of China,” “Germany is facing a dead-end,” and “the U.S. is on the brink of bankruptcy.”

In one video posted on September 17, she talked about the two assassination attempts against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, suggesting that the intensifying political rivalry is fueling violence in the U.S. and could lead to further societal division.

Patriotism before commerce

A joint investigation by Voice of America and social media analytics firm Doublethink Lab uncovered several accounts on TikTok like Alina's and Lisa’s that feature videos of Russian women generated by artificial intelligence, or AI. All the accounts emerged around July and August and followed a similar pattern of leveraging patriotic sentiment to bolster China-Russia ties before going on to promote products.

Earlier this year, VOA noted a similar trend on Chinese social media platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu, and the use of AI-manipulated videos of young, purportedly Russian women to rally support for China-Russia ties and stoke patriotic fervor before selling products such as snacks, nutritional supplements and drinks.

It is hard to tell whether the creators of the videos have an ideological motive or are simply trying to exploit Chinese patriotism to sell their products, said Wei-Ping Li, who holds a fellowship at the Taiwan FactCheck Center.

"I still think they are more like aiming to sell products rather than state-sponsored influence campaigns,” she told VOA.

Either way, the use of Russian AI personas to foster patriotism was once limited to Chinese social media sites targeting domestic audiences. The accounts identified on TikTok, however, appear to be operated from Singapore, indicating that the use of attractive blonde Russian women to push patriotism, propaganda and products has expanded beyond China.

TikTok is unavailable in China. Most users download its Chinese counterpart, Douyin. Both platforms are owned by the same parent company, ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing.

When VOA contacted TikTok to find out more about the accounts Tuesday, they were taken down several hours later.

TikTok spokesperson Ariane de Selliers told VOA that TikTok does "not allow account behavior that may spam or mislead our community.”

According to TikTok’s rules, creators are required to label realistic AI-generated content.

The accounts discovered by VOA uniformly claim to be from Russia and to love China, often highlighting China's economic achievements and its status as a global friend while criticizing Japan and Western nations like the U.S. and Germany.

Most of the content does not appear to come from original creators because the posts are similar or identical to content on other social media platforms.

For the most part, it appears that these accounts have been largely republishing videos from Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu and possibly WeChat and bilibili.

Some accounts, however, seek to make their postings look legitimate by having the AI-generated Russian women talk about their lives and experiences in China and why they like the country.

Interestingly, while many of these characters on Chinese platforms talk about their desire to “marry a Chinese man,” videos targeting Chinese overseas do not talk about that at all.

Li of the Taiwan FactCheck Center said the TikTok accounts seem aimed at older Chinese audiences overseas, diverging from the previous focus on younger males with patriotic inclinations and military backgrounds. This shift can be observed in the use of hashtags such as #Singapore, #Malaysia and #OverseasChinese.

“For the target audiences of these Singaporean accounts, imagine a 65-year-old Chinese [males or females] living in Southeast Asia or even Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., whose friends often share TikTok or Douyin videos,” she said.

“These videos first employ nationalistic themes to attract viewers before promoting their products,” she added.

Why Russians?

Once these videos gain traction, they pivot to sales. One post claimed, “China will always be the big brother of Russia,” before recommending a health product: “I suggest Sinopharm Group's Glucosamine Chondroitin for joint protection.”

By featuring foreign women praising China’s political and economic systems, these videos convey a message designed to instill pride among Chinese viewers, aligning with their patriotic sentiments.

But why the focus on Russian women?

Li attributes this trend to cultural connections, noting that since the 2010s, Chinese men have sought brides in Russia. A 2016 report from China's state media highlighted this phenomenon, suggesting that “a Chinese husband and a Russian wife make a perfect match.”

"The rhetoric we see in these TikTok videos are exactly the same,” Li pointed out.

Additionally, economic factors play a role. As Russia’s economic growth lags China’s, some Chinese individuals may seek partnerships in economically disadvantaged areas.

Li emphasized that the TikTok videos aimed at Southeast Asian audiences feature Russian women probably because their creators believe that viewers will appreciate foreign endorsements of China and Singapore.

“In addition, using these existing Russian women’s images (on Chinese social media), producers can churn out videos more easily,” she added.