A "global propaganda push", as the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank based in Canberra, puts it, began to gain traction in or around 2019 to push forward what it calls "pro-CCP narratives" on the likes of Twitter and YouTube.

Alongside Chinese state media, these social media posts, which were found on many of the most visited Western platforms, were tailored to portray a wholesome view of China to the rest of the world.

But one Australian journalist who has worked in the country for over a decade has posted content to YouTube and Twitter for years, despite ramped-up criticism, while avoiding much scrutiny.

"I don't pretend that China is perfect and I don't think the most effective way to address certain problems is to talk about them on social media platforms inaccessible in China,” says Harry Harding aka Hazza.

The 32-year-old Australian has been working in China as a news anchor and television host for twelve years. He is the foreign face of little-known Guangdong Radio and Television's international channel, GDTV World, effectively South China's answer to CGTN, the state-funded English arm of CCTV.

"Social media, especially overseas social media, was just a way for me to have something of my own, something that I have control over. People often accuse me of being paid to run [these] social media accounts, but I just laugh it off. If I were being paid, those accounts wouldn't be my own, and I would stay very far away," Hazza says.

He stands out from the other primarily caucasian foreigners involved with state-run media for his ability to remain somewhat neutral, a stance that even some of the world's largest multinationals struggle to maintain.