#IamNotAVirus – Transnational activism of chinese diaspora on social media during Covid-19

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the transnational activism of the Chinese diaspora in social media platforms that aimed to confront racist and xenophobic narratives on the expression “Chinese virus”, whose dissemination promoted the association between Coronavirus and the Chinese population in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. We focus on the process of creation and production of two campaigns in Brazil and in Spain, #EuNãoSouUmVirus and #YoNoSoyUnVírus, respectively, shared on YouTube and X (former Twitter). Based on a qualitative approach, we combine ethnographic observations (posts and its contexts analysis) and in-depth interviews with three activists involved in these campaigns. The analysis is developed around two dimensions of transnationalism in digital networks of the Chinese diaspora that marked the campaign production process in the two national contexts (1) the emergence of racist and xenophobic narratives around the “Chinese virus” as an impulse towards transnational activism of the Chinese diaspora on digital networks (2) the activism of the #YoNoSoyUnVírus campaign as an opportunity for political engagement and confronting conflict in the context of Chinese culture.