On New Year’s Day the Ministry of Publicity launched “Study Xi” software. The contents are mainly to introduce Xi Jinping’s thoughts. By the end of January, “Study Xi” software surpassed China’s popular WeChat and TikTok, and jumped to number one of downloaded software.
According to Radio Free Asia, just before the Chinese New Year, the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, issued a notice requiring all personnel to download the “Study Xi” software. It tasked them with browsing the video and the article on the app daily to earn a minimum of 30 points each day. Those who failed to do so would be given a notification. According to China Digital Times, a staff member of the Safety Supervision Bureau of the Administrative Committee of the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Yichun City developed software that allows users to earn points automatically without having to browse the “Study Xi” app and charged 80-85 yuan per user. On a U.S. news website on March 20, the staff member was detained for writing this software
The Radio Free Asia article quoted comments from the people it interviewed on this topic. One commentator said that people are pessimistic about this round of brainwashing action. Deploying the “Study Xi” app nationwide has become a political requirement. It shows that Xi Jinping has copied the Mao Zedong era where the nation was forced to embrace the “Red Book.” In the informational age however, Xi Jinping’s intent to idolize himself could end up being difficult and is bound to be a failure. There could be more of this type of software circulating on the Internet.
Source: Radio Free Asia, March 22, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/arrest-03222019083446.html?encoding=simplified