Haili LI

Freie Universität Berlin, Department for History and Cultural Studies, Post-Doc

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PhD in digital media and communication (Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology)
MA in Science Communication (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

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James Elkins

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Joanna Bryson

Hertie School

Radhika Gajjala

Bowling Green State University

Maurizio Forte

Duke University

Ruth DeSouza

University of Melbourne

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Robin Mansell

London School of Economics and Political Science

Timothy Morton

Rice University

Panos Panagiotopoulos

Queen Mary, University of London

Benjamin Burroughs

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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Papers by Haili LI

Chinese Citizens’ Digital Engagement with Local Mobile Government Platforms: Motivation, Usage, and Gratifications

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Accepting but Not Engaging with It: Digital Participation in Local Government-Run Social Credit Systems in China

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022

Over the past decade, China&#39;s central and municipalgovernments have consistently supporte... more Over the past decade, China&#39;s central and municipalgovernments have consistently supported the devel-opment of social credit systems (SCSs). Whileresearch has highlighted the Chinese public&#39;s highapproval and backing of SCSs, their engagementwith these digital projects has not been fullyexplored. Based on 44 semi‐structured interviews,our research examines Chinese citizens&#39; digitalparticipation in government‐run SCSs at the locallevel. Ourfindings suggest that, despite perceivingSCSs as accepting and positive, most intervieweesdo not actively engage with local government‐runSCSs. Multiple factors can explain the gap betweenthe high acceptance and low participation rates,including a lack of awareness regarding local SCSs,a perception that registering and maintaining adecent credit score requires major effort, variousconcerns involving data privacy and safety, algo-rithm accuracy and fairness, potential risks,unappealing benefits offered by SCSs, and thevoluntary aspect of participating in local SCSs. Ourresearch adds to the existing literature on digitalgovernance in authoritarian contexts by explainingwhy Chinese citizens do not necessarily engagewith state‐promoted digital projects.

Accepting but not engaging with it: Digital participation in local government-run social credit systems in China

by Haili LI and Genia Kostka

Policy & Internet, 2022

Over the past decade, China's central and municipalgovernments have consistently supported the de... more Over the past decade, China's central and municipalgovernments have consistently supported the devel-opment of social credit systems (SCSs). Whileresearch has highlighted the Chinese public's highapproval and backing of SCSs, their engagementwith these digital projects has not been fullyexplored. Based on 44 semi‐structured interviews,our research examines Chinese citizens' digitalparticipation in government‐run SCSs at the locallevel. Ourfindings suggest that, despite perceivingSCSs as accepting and positive, most intervieweesdo not actively engage with local government‐runSCSs. Multiple factors can explain the gap betweenthe high acceptance and low participation rates,including a lack of awareness regarding local SCSs,a perception that registering and maintaining adecent credit score requires major effort, variousconcerns involving data privacy and safety, algo-rithm accuracy and fairness, potential risks,unappealing benefits offered by SCSs, and thevoluntary aspect of participating in local SCSs. Ourresearch adds to the existing literature on digitalgovernance in authoritarian contexts by explainingwhy Chinese citizens do not necessarily engagewith state‐promoted digital projects.

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Negotiating Privacy and Mobile Socializing: Chinese University Students’ Concerns and Strategies for Using Geosocial Networking Applications

Social Media + Society, 2020

Privacy risks have significant increase with the widespread use of geosocial networking applicati... more Privacy risks have significant increase with the widespread use of geosocial networking applications (GSNAs). The Facebook data breach case in 2018 triggered many users' concerns and focused attention on the debate about the trustworthiness of GSNAs globally. Particularly, the rapid development of Chinese GSNAs such as WeChat and Momo has been frequently cited as contributing to an increase in privacy risks in recent years. However, existing studies have primarily focused on the privacy risks of using GSNAs in Western contexts, while little is known about these issues in the Chinese context. This study thus attempts to expand upon prior research by examining concerns about GSNAs, as well as attitudes and strategies to address these concerns among Chinese university students. By conducting 47 semi-structured interviews, this study finds that although participants are generally concerned about the privacy risks of GSNAs, a few of them have taken steps to address their concerns. Five types of social privacy concerns, including information leakage/misuse, location tracking, malicious personal attacks, sexual harassment, and individual-targeted advertising, and three types of institutional privacy concerns, including information leaks, information tracking, and surveillance by apps and the Chinese government, have been identified in this research. Most participants have taken little action to address their privacy concerns and display an attitude of trust, ignoring and accepting the privacy risks of GSNAs. Comparatively, few participants have developed active strategies to mitigate their concerns, such as abstaining from or exercising caution when using apps and functions, and reporting privacy threats to app platforms. Significantly, this study offers new insights into users' privacy concerns that are specifically associated with Chinese social and cultural contexts. However, as this research mainly focuses on privacy concerns and strategies from users' perspectives, future studies are encouraged to delve into solutions and strategies to mitigate users' privacy concerns in the global context of social media.

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Transnational togetherness through Rela: Chinese queer women's practices for maintaining ties with the homeland

In the context of global migration, diaspora's use of digital media to maintain transnational con... more In the context of global migration, diaspora's use of digital media to maintain transnational connections has become a focus of intense research. By deploying the walkthrough method and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study explores the transnational practices of Chinese queer women living in Australia for maintaining digital connections with queer women communities in China through Rela, a Chinese lesbian social app. Rela live streaming is innovatively used by Chinese queer women in Australia to maintain diverse transnational relationships, including friendships with streamers and viewers, and romantic relationships with their partners. Rela groups have also become vital spaces through which diasporic Chinese queer women connect with the Rela queer women community. Nevertheless, although the use of Rela diversifies Chinese queer women's diasporic life and helps them gain a sense of belonging, it reduces their participation in local queer activities and limits their interactions with queer women communities in Australia.

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From “Oh, you’re Chinese . . . ” to “No bats, thx!”: Racialized Experiences of Australian-Based Chinese Queer Women in the Mobile Dating Context

Social Media + Society

This article explores racial exclusion, bias, and prejudice in the context of same-sex mobile dat... more This article explores racial exclusion, bias, and prejudice in the context of same-sex mobile dating, focusing on the experiences of a group of Australian-based Chinese queer women. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and participant observation were used to examine participants’ racialized experiences. The findings indicate that Western dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble, and HER, served as crucial channels of these women’s interracial and intercultural encounters while living in Australia. However, they largely perceived these apps, and HER in particular, as White-dominated and ill-suited to their dating practices, thus reinforcing their sense of exclusion and ostracism. Although the participants frequently encountered subtle prejudice on dating apps, they experienced more blatant and aggressive forms of racism triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. Multiple factors, including their language capability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and their racial, ethnic, and diasporic identities, playe...

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Chinese Citizens’ Digital Engagement with Local Mobile Government Platforms: Motivation, Usage, and Gratifications

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Accepting but Not Engaging with It: Digital Participation in Local Government-Run Social Credit Systems in China

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022