China now has a Communist propaganda app for kids

Kids get their own digital Little Red Book as their parents swipe away on their Study Xi app

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China now has a Communist propaganda app for kids

Published: 10:19pm, 9 Apr 2019Updated: 9:01am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Despite its reach, Chinese Communist Party propaganda is impressively boring: It's long, opaque and full of incomprehensible formulas. So how does one make it more palatable to young minds? Package it into an app, of course.

A new propaganda tool, with a name that literally translates to “Learn new ideas, be a good successor,” focuses on submerging young minds into the political doctrine of Chinese president Xi Jinping. The app’s content is aimed at kids from primary school to high school with the purpose of “consolidating their belief in the Party and inspiring them to be reliable socialist successors,” according to state media.

In addition to Xi Jinping Thought study sessions, the app is full of goodies such as the latest news on education, school events and, of course, more news on Xi Jinping. (Picture: Screenshot from Learn new ideas, be a good successor)

This isn't the first time China's propaganda apparatus is taking a technology-focused turn. February saw the launch of an app aimed at adults that many have called the digital version of Mao's Little Red Book. Study Xi Strong Country (or Studying Strengthens China, depending on the translation) acts as an aggregation platform for articles, video clips and documentaries focused predominantly on -- you guessed it -- Xi Jinping Thought.

The app reportedly has more than 100 million users, but it’s hard to say if all the users installed the app willingly. Some universities and employers have reportedly required their students and employees to fill up their Xi Jinping wisdom quota.

The Study Xi app, developed by China’s Propaganda Department with the help of Alibaba, records users’ progress for reading content and awards points available for all to see.

(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)