China’s vast 50-cent army is waging war on the truth
According to the South China Morning Post over 2 million “internet opinion analysts” are paid to monitor the posts of Chinese netizens.
The paper reports that, “It’s an open secret that China employs a veritable army of internet commentators to sing the government’s praises and attack its critics, but researchers at Harvard University in the United States say they not only have evidence this is the case, but also what Beijing’s motive is.”
The team at Harvard estimated that 488 million posts and letters per year intended to deflect public criticism are created by “wumao” – the 50-cent gang – so-called because of the low pay most are thought to receive.
The article goes further to state, “the distraction strategy adopted by Chinese internet censors offered only a partial description of China’s internet ecology as there were still ‘volunteer 50-centres’ involved in online debates and shaping public opinion”.
If memory serves, it would appear that “Have Your Say” has been routinely trolled by the CCP. Sharp readers like Paul from Khon Kaen have even commented upon it. But what to do?
We would do well to ask.
Michael Setter
