Chinese Censors Write Millions Of "Fake" Social Posts

Harvard University has conducted research into a leaked document from 2014, suggesting that the Chinese government pays supporters to help it write 'fake' comments on social media. The report found that the army of commenters, whose names appeared in the document, write around 488 million posts a year, aimed at swaying public opinion concerning the country's politics and history. Gary King, who led the study, said that the comments left on Chinese social media, were not aggressive, but were designed to let an argument die, or change the subject, as this “usually works much better than picking a [fight].” Reportedly paid 50 cents per post, the contributors are asked to make sure they comment during peak social media hours, or while a political debate is being discussed. Alongside China's deletion of content that is deemed too sensitive, this procedure allows the government to control opinion without censoring any more content. 

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