Transnational Citizen Journalism for Resistance and Solidarity: The Case of a Sinophone Community on Instagram

This study focuses on a new trend in journalism, which we conceptualize as transnational citizen journalism. We argue that the diasporic and transnational production and consumption of alternative and counter-hegemonic information by nonprofessional individuals have sparked fresh imaginations and opened up new spaces for journalism, particularly in authoritarian contexts. We specifically examine several prominent transnational citizen journalism projects that played a significant role in the large-scale protests against China’s stringent Covid-zero policy in late 2022. Through a content analysis of the multimodal content posted on these projects’ Instagram accounts, and semistructured interviews with account creators, we argue that these transnational citizen journalism projects have built a solidarity infrastructure, connecting individuals and communities who share the value of challenging authoritarianism but come from different localities and backgrounds. Its foundation rests on the passion of diasporic creators for their native country, the engagement of a largely youthful audience with public affairs, and a global platform enabling transnational information flow. This network also extends to international communities opposing oppression in nations such as Iran and Russia.