Incident I00033: China 50cent Army

Summary: 50cent Army is a CCP “tool” - “massive secret operation” in China pumping out an estimated 488 million fabricated social media posts per year, part of an effort to “regularly distract the public and change the subject” from any policy-related issues that threaten to anger citizens enough to turn them out onto the streets. But the research finds no evidence these 50-centers are, in fact, paid 50 cents, nor does it find they engage in direct and angry argument with their opponents. Instead, they are mostly bureaucrats already on the public payroll, responding to government directives at a time of heightened tension to flood social media with pro-government cheerleading.
incident type: apt
Year started: 2014
Countries: China , China
Found via: OII
Date added: 2019-02-24

Technique	Description given for this incident
T0002 Determine Strategic Ends	IT00000110 facilitate state propaganda and defuse crises
T0047 Create Clickbait	IT00000108 cow online opinion leaders into submission, muzzling social media as a political force
T0048 Purchase Targeted Advertisements	IT00000109 cow online opinion leaders into submission, muzzling social media as a political force
T0049 Create Localized Content	IT00000105 2,000,000 people (est.) part of state run/sponsored astroturfing
T0050 Leverage Echo Chambers/Filter Bubbles	IT00000107 domestic social media influence operations focus primarily on “cheerleading” or presenting or furthering a positive narrative about the Chinese state
T0051 Chat apps	IT00000106 fabricated social media comment

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