Falun Gong’s media outlet has been described as a ‘global-scale misinformation machine’

Falun Gong’s media outlet has been described as a ‘global-scale misinformation machine.’

Most people in the U.S. who have heard of The Epoch Times think of it as an online publication. While it does have a significant online presence—it’s published in 21 languages and 33 countries—it also has print editions in eight languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian. The first Chinese-only print edition was published in New York in April 2000, and the online edition followed in August 2000. In 2003, an online edition in English was launched, which began printing as a newspaper in New York in 2004.

Although Falun Gong’s leader doesn’t have direct control over the publication, Li has called The Epoch Times “our media,” along with the NTD digital production (a media company) and the Shen Yun dance troupe. The New York Times has accurately described the publication as a “global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream.”