The Uyghur region of China is home to the Uyghur people, one of China’s many ethnic minorities. It is also the site of hundreds of concentration camps. And well documented human rights violations against the Uyghurs, including forced labor, take place in these camps. But The Telegraph reports vloggers from Europe are visiting the region and painting over the ongoing Uyghur genocide with images of a well-scrubbed and bustling tourist destination full of fun and adventure.  

One of the most “controversial areas” 

The Uyghur region has been in the news for years now, but not as a sparkling vacation spot. Instead reports of Uyghurs being rounded up and secreted away in camps on an unprecedented scale are more familiar headlines. But vloggers traveling to the Uyghur region are using words like “misinformation”, “hype” and “lies” about previous media coverage. They describe their time there as a “wild adventure”  posting happy-go-lucky footage of dressing up in traditional costumes and exploring a town set up for tourists. 

Daria Impiombato, a cyber analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said: 

“It’s like influencers who are going to Syria, just doing travel vlogs from Syria without talking about years and years of war and devastation. You can’t do that, and you can’t do that in Xinjiang either.” 

Impiombato co-wrote several reports on how skillful the Chinese government is at wrapping local and foreign influencers into its propaganda strategy.

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