For years, the Chinese government has been widely suspected of hiring thousands of paid commenters using fabricated accounts to argue in favor of the government on social media sites. This presumed army of trolls is dubbed the "50 Cent Party," because of the rumored rate of pay per post – 50 cents in Chinese Yuan, or about $0.08.
But new research finds that those presumptions are inaccurate. Actually, the Chinese government's use of fabricated posts is "way more sophisticated than anybody realized," Harvard professor Gary King tells The Two-Way. King and two other researchers, Jennifer Pan and Margaret E. Roberts, analyzed a set of leaked emails from an Internet Propaganda Office in Zhanggong, which is in southern China.
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China's Government Fabricates Hundreds of Millions of Social Media Posts
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(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @03:16AM
This so-called news story is completely wrong. Some Western news outlets accuse the government of China of doing these things, but there is no facts only propaganda. Quality of life in China is extremely good. I know because I visited there recently (I am from Kenya, in Africa) and everyone smiling all the time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @03:42AM
Also, they pay 61 cents per post now. Inflation, you see.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Monday May 23 2016, @03:58AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday May 23 2016, @05:49AM
I have enough difficulty tolerating the amount of authoritarianism in Midwestern US. No chance I'm ever going to China of my own free will.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by mendax on Monday May 23 2016, @06:30AM
Most visitors to North Korea also enjoy their visits there... with some notable exceptions [wikipedia.org]. I suspect most Norks would not say the same about many aspects of their lives.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @07:36AM
威猛秃鹰有小阴茎。
(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Monday May 23 2016, @08:36AM
Careful mighty vulture may get mad!
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Monday May 23 2016, @12:29PM
If you had read TFA, you'd know that your comment simply doesn't match the pattern they found. FTFA:
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday May 24 2016, @01:29AM
"Arguments don't end because somebody has a better argument. So if the Chinese government's point is to stop discussion about a collective action event, whatever it is, or critical events of the government, arguing with people is an extremely ineffective way of doing it."
He adds: "If you're having an argument with somebody, and you want to end it, a much better approach than to argue with them is to say, 'Let's get ice cream.' Or, 'Look at that thing out the window.'"
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday May 23 2016, @04:33PM
China, North Korea, and many other countries like them are absolutely chock full of Shiny Happy People Holding Hands. That is of course why they're the best countries in the world, ruled by the wisest possible leaders.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Monday May 23 2016, @03:25AM
and we have all kinds of censorship, either direct or indirect.
when I was growing up, in the 60s and 70s, we would say that china and russia are 'bad actors' and we will *never* be like them.
now that I see what the US has become, over the years, the difference between them and us is still there, but the line is so much more blurry now. and its not because I need glasses.
we have been pretty bad actors, too. way worse than what I was taught the US stood for.
we are in no shape to have such a holier-than-thou feeling. we are 'not china' but we are also 'not the US'; at least the US that is/was taught in schools. post-snowden, can we really feel so smug about our so-called freedom and superiority?
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @03:29AM
Yes we can, that's how we'll make america great again!
Imma trollin for those who aren't sure :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @08:01AM
中国老人们闻滑稽。
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @08:54AM
Apples to oranges. US government does not systematically post to message boards in disguise to influence political opinion (outside of terrorism recruitment thwarting).
Yes, we suck in some ways still, but not the same ways China does. And we have the 3 branches of gov't that are independent of the other branches and that mostly keep each other in check. This system of checks doesn't always work right, but at least we have such a system.
(Score: 3, Informative) by n1 on Monday May 23 2016, @09:28AM
I agree with you to a point, but eternal vigilance and all that.... It's apples to oranges, unless it's moldy apples to rotten oranges. They taste quite different but neither is good for us.
While the US Government employees may not be ordered to directly post propaganda or misinformation there are other avenues to achieve the same results
1) The corporate media's complete acceptance of anything a 'state department official said under the condition of anonymity'
2) Voice of America and associated media groups
3) Political Action Committees
4) Lobbyists on their way through the revolving door between jobs as regulators, lobbyists and industry leaders
5) Hiring of PR management and other 'social media specialists' by the individual departments and organizations within the government.
6) As already noted, the NSL, gag orders and other less paperwork like tools available to the likes of NSA and associated agencies and their involvement with the big data types of google and facebook.
While in China the government represents the ultimate authority, in the US, it's a far more convoluted situation publicly. The government can't restrict free speech, but they can enable mechanisms for private interests to restrict free speech for the benefit of government policy, or at least to make sure the 'right' information gets the highest visibility. But the point is, there is manipulation of public perception and selective reporting and interpretation of data, but it doesn't usually take the form of thousands of poorly paid copy/pasters sitting on forums.
It's a different landscape, but we're still on the same planet and manipulating the masses through manipulation of media and public opinion doesn't ever go out style. And it can all be done with the best of intentions, you know how stupid the average person is? They can't be expected to understand the nuances of economics and geopolitics so we'll just show them this crude drawing that pulls on the heart strings to make sure they understand whats at stake, even if they don't understand the issues themselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 23 2016, @11:17AM
US government does not systematically post to message boards in disguise to influence political opinion (outside of terrorism recruitment thwarting).
Quite correct. Instead we have media conglomerates and superPACs to fill the void.
(Score: 3, Informative) by urza9814 on Wednesday May 25 2016, @05:23PM
Go Google "JTRIG":
https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/ [theintercept.com]
JTRIG is part of GCHQ, so it's technically the UK, not the US...but they're doing this in partnership with the NSA, so the US seems to be involved too.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by opinionated_science on Monday May 23 2016, @04:22AM
astroturfing?
Or am I out of the loop on this one ;-)
(Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Monday May 23 2016, @04:46AM
That's the American version. What you're thinking of is taikoturfing [wikipedia.org].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday May 23 2016, @05:45PM
Since the Astroturfing refers to the fake grass surface, the Chinese equivalent should probably be 50c/sq.ft plastic spikes coated with off-green lead and cadmium paint.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday May 23 2016, @07:24PM
Ah, cancerturfing.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by snufu on Monday May 23 2016, @05:53AM
Was intended to be disturbing satirical fiction, not a blueprint.