Netizens are frequently reminded not to believe everything they read on the internet. Besides hoaxes, rumors, speculations and black propaganda, there are paid hacks.
A Harvard study found that in China, these paid hacks are not spin doctors, lobbyist or PR practitioners masquerading as media. Most of them are ordinary Chinese paid 50 cents per post to help sway opinion in social media sites, reported BBC.
It turns out that a lot of comments on social media sites, such as Sina Weibo, were written to make it like it was posted by an ordinary Chinese. The research, led by Gary King from the Department of Government in Harvard, estimated total number of fake posts at 488 million a year.
The hacks are mostly ordinary people or Communist Party workers paid to be a “cheerleader” to the government’s achievements or history. “They do not step up to defend the government, its leaders, and their policies from criticism, no matter how vitriolic; indeed, they seems to avoid controversial issue entirely,” the study said.
That’s because letting an argument die or changing the subject often works better than arguing and backing up someone. Their posts are called Fifty Cent Party who members number around 2 million Chinese, the study said.
Their posts are often made during the busiest times of the year and there is heated debate on a controversial issue. Leaks in 2014 showed documents and spreadsheets with real names and online pseudonym on the fake social media posters.