Digital misinformation casts shadow on U.S.-China trade truce

U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have sent jitters through the world economy, unnerving investors and roiling financial markets.

From false claims of Americans panic-buying Chinese goods to bot-driven attacks on U.S. brands, a tide of misinformation is casting a shadow over a temporary trade truce between Washington and Beijing.

The world's two biggest economies agreed earlier this month to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, a surprise de-escalation in their bitter trade war following high-level talks in Geneva.

But an alternate reality is unfolding across social media platforms, including China's Douyin and Weibo, where a surge of falsehoods is fueling anti-American sentiment that could undermine the fragile truce.

One online video, which garnered millions of views across those platforms and TikTok, claims to show panicked American shoppers snapping up Chinese-branded television sets in the aftermath of trade tensions.

But in reality, that was old footage from 2018 showing Black Friday shopping frenzy at a U.S. supermarket.

The falsehood was further amplified by Chinese state media outlets, including China Daily, which ran headlines such as: "Americans are starting to stock up like crazy amid tariffs and snapping up Chinese-branded TVs."

A news clip on its website, more recycled footage from 2018, bears a "file footage" watermark in the upper left corner, apparently to shield the outlet from legal liability.