You seem to be joking but it actually is well documented.
The 50 Cent Party, or 50 Cent Army, is the colloquial term for Internet commentators, who are hired by Chinese authorities in an attempt to manipulate public opinion to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. It was created during the early phases of the Internet’s rollout to the wider public in China.
The name is derived from the fact that such commentators are reportedly paid RMB¥0.50 for every post.
Thanks, I hadn’t heard of them. Thought this was interesting:
Authors of a paper published in 2017 in the American Political Science Review estimate that the Chinese government fabricates 488 million social media posts per year.
Now with increased focus on social media and LLMs I’d be surprised if it isn’t well into the billions.
Some of them yes, absolutely.
Do you have any source for that? I would be curious to see.
Let me ask friend in the CCP to send some of their files over for you to look at, it’s all very open and well documented.
You seem to be joking but it actually is well documented.
The name is derived from the fact that such commentators are reportedly paid RMB¥0.50 for every post.
Thanks, I hadn’t heard of them. Thought this was interesting:
Now with increased focus on social media and LLMs I’d be surprised if it isn’t well into the billions.
I think, they are only paid indirectly in that the money are spent on propaganda to make them act like this