50 Cent Party
Encyclopedia
The 50 Cent Party is a pejorative unofficial term for Internet commentators hired by the government of the People's Republic of China
(both local and central) or the Communist Party
to post comments favorable towards party policies in an attempt to shape and sway public opinion
on various Internet message boards. The commentators are said to be paid for every post that either steers a discussion away from anti-party or sensitive content on domestic websites, bulletin board system
s, and chatrooms, or that advances the Communist party line
. Pro-party comments claim that the term is sometimes extended to discredit anyone who posts an excessively patriotic comment about China online.
In March 2005, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
enacted a systematic censorship of Chinese college bulletin board systems. The popular "Little Lily" BBS, ran by Nanjing University
, was forced to close. As a new system was prepared to be launched, school officials hired students as part-time web commentators, paid from the university's work-study funds, to search the forum for undesirable information and actively counter it with Party-friendly viewpoints. In following months, party leaders from Jiangsu
province began hiring their own teams. By mid-2007, web commentator teams recruited by schools, and party organizations were common across China. Shanghai Normal University employed undergraduates to monitor for signs of dissent and post on university forums. However, they not only operate solely within political discussion, but also general discussions in which arguments are often alleviated. Afterwards, some schools and local governments started to build "teams of Internet commentators".
On January 23, 2007, Chinese leader Hu Jintao
demanded for a "reinforcement of ideological and public opinion front construction and positive publicity" at the 38th collective learning of Politburo
. Large Chinese websites and local governments have been requested to publish the saying of Hu, and select "comrades with good political quality" to form "teams of Internet commentators" by the CPC Central Committee (中共中央办公厅) and General Office of the State Council (国务院办公厅).
Negative reporting of local authorities has increased on the internet since then. In one instance described on the China Digital Times
, the Jiaozuo
(Henan) City Public Security Bureau established a mechanism to analyse public opinion after criticism of the police by netizen
s appeared on the internet regarding a traffic incident. The Bureau responded with 120 staff calling for the truth to be revealed in line with the public opinion, which gradually shifted and eventually supported the police position, denouncing the original poster. In the aftermath of the 2008 Guizhou riot, internet forums were filled with posts critical of the local authorities; the China News Weekly later reported that "the major task of the propaganda group was to organize commentators to past [sic] posts on websites to guide online public opinions."
In 2010, the Shanghai
Communist Youth League's official website published a summary, saying that there were more than 200 topics by Shanghai Municipal Authorities' Internet commentators posted at People's Daily
site, Xinhua site, Eastday (东方网), Sina
and Tianya
after many incidents in 2009, including Lotus Riverside
incident, Green Dam
software forced installation, Putuo Urban Administrative incident, H1N1's control, Shanghai entrapment incident (钓鱼执法), Pan Rong (潘蓉)'s self-immolation, etc. It was praised by Shanghai Internet Publicity Office.
now holds regular training sessions, whose participants are required to pass an exam after which they are issued a job certification. Some estimates claim thousands of such commentators while other estimates put their numbers as high as 280,000–300,000.
According to the Chinese Communists' opinions of the recruitment of university Work Committee (tentative), the university Internet commentators are mainly selected from cadres or student cadres at Communist Party Publicity Department of universities, Youth League, Office of Academic Affairs, Network Center, Admissions Employment Department, Political Theory Department, Teaching Department and other units.
The court of Qinghe District
, Huai'an
organized a team of 12 commentators. Gansu Province
hired 650 commentators, sorted by their writing abilities. Suqian Municipal Publicity Department's first 26 commentators' team were reported by Yangtse Evening Post
in April 2005. According to high-profile independent
Chinese blog
ger Li Ming
, the pro-Chinese government web commentators must number "at least in the tens of thousands".
Wen Yunchao (温云超), a formal Internet commentator said that there were about 20 full-time commentators for the local news websites in Guangdong
. A county-level discipline inspection commission's Internet commentator estimated more than 100 spare-time Internet commentator in his county, whose population was about 1 million. Hu Yong, an Internet expert from Peking University
, said that "the public opinion molders have already penetrated different layers of Chinese society", he found public opinion watchmen that deal with negative information on the forums in tourist city's airport and county-level middle school.
Amnesty International
secretary-general Salil Shetty
in March 2011 warned that countries, like China and Iran, were investing "considerable resources into pro-government blogs" in an effort to cement
state power.
Every large Chinese website is instructed by the Information Office to create a trained team of Internet commentators.
In a leaked propaganda directive to 50 cent party internet commentators, their objective was stated as:
in 2006.
In 2010, the Internet commentators from Hengyang
Municipal Committee Party School were paid 0.1 yuan per post and less than 100 yuan's monthly bonus.
A county-level discipline inspection commission's Internet commentator from Hunan Province told Global Times that a 500 words article is worth 40 yuan on local websites and 200 yuan on national sites.
s for them:
Among those names, "50 Cent Party" (五毛党) is the most common and pejorative unofficial term. It was created by Chinese netizen
s as a satire. Many trace the origin of the "50 cent" name to the salaries at the Publicity Department of Changsha, which according to the English version of Global Times
, supplemented Internet Commentators' basic income with 50 cents ("5 Mao") per post since October, 2004.
The term is derogatorily applied by cynical Chinese netizens to any person who blatantly expresses pro-Communist Party
thoughts online. However, there's another word "5 US Cent (五美分)" used by some pro-party netizens to denigrate anti-party, pro-democracy comments, with the implication that those commentators are hired by the governments of the United States, Taiwan or other "western" countries. Zhang Shengjun, a professor of international politics at Beijing Normal University
published an article Who would be afraid of the cap of "50 Cent Party"? on the Chinese version of Global Times, claiming that spread by western media outfits, "it has become a baton waved towards all Chinese patriots" to make the Chinese government a constant target of criticism.
The Hong Kong
-based Apple Daily
reported that although a search for "五毛党" ("50 Cent Party" in Chinese) on a search engine produces results, most were inaccessible and had been deleted.
, in which McCain's campaign registered and rewarded internet commentators that promoted him or his talking point
s with book signings and bus rides with the candidate.
The Internet commentator/50 Cent Party's activities were described by Chinese President Hu Jintao
as "a new pattern of public-opinion guidance"; they represent a shift from erasing dissenting opinions to challenging them. In 2010, an American blogger from the Huffington Post claimed that some comments she received on one of her posts were from the 50 Cent Party. The 50 Cent Party also monitors popular US websites, news sites and blogs and posting of comments that advance Chinese governmental interests.
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
(both local and central) or the Communist Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
to post comments favorable towards party policies in an attempt to shape and sway public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
on various Internet message boards. The commentators are said to be paid for every post that either steers a discussion away from anti-party or sensitive content on domestic websites, bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s, and chatrooms, or that advances the Communist party line
Party line (politics)
In politics, the line or the party line is an idiom for a political party or social movement's canon agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organization's partisanship. The common phrase toeing the party line describes a person who speaks in a manner that conforms to his...
. Pro-party comments claim that the term is sometimes extended to discredit anyone who posts an excessively patriotic comment about China online.
History
The Publicity Department of Changsha had hired Internet commentators since October 2004. It is one of earliest known and reported appearances of professional Internet commentators.In March 2005, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China , formerly Ministry of Education, Central People's Government from 1949 to 1954, State Education Commission from 1985 to 1998, is headquartered in Beijing. It is the agency of the State Council which regulates all aspects of the...
enacted a systematic censorship of Chinese college bulletin board systems. The popular "Little Lily" BBS, ran by Nanjing University
Nanjing University
Nanjing University , or Nanking University, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China...
, was forced to close. As a new system was prepared to be launched, school officials hired students as part-time web commentators, paid from the university's work-study funds, to search the forum for undesirable information and actively counter it with Party-friendly viewpoints. In following months, party leaders from Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province began hiring their own teams. By mid-2007, web commentator teams recruited by schools, and party organizations were common across China. Shanghai Normal University employed undergraduates to monitor for signs of dissent and post on university forums. However, they not only operate solely within political discussion, but also general discussions in which arguments are often alleviated. Afterwards, some schools and local governments started to build "teams of Internet commentators".
On January 23, 2007, Chinese leader Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
demanded for a "reinforcement of ideological and public opinion front construction and positive publicity" at the 38th collective learning of Politburo
Politburo of the Communist Party of China
The Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China or Political bureau of the CPC Central Committee , formerly as Central Bureau before 1927, is a group of 24 people who oversee the Communist Party of China...
. Large Chinese websites and local governments have been requested to publish the saying of Hu, and select "comrades with good political quality" to form "teams of Internet commentators" by the CPC Central Committee (中共中央办公厅) and General Office of the State Council (国务院办公厅).
Negative reporting of local authorities has increased on the internet since then. In one instance described on the China Digital Times
China Digital Times
China Digital Times is a bilingual "collaborative news website covering China’s social and political transition and its emerging role in the world," according to the site's About page...
, the Jiaozuo
Jiaozuo
Jiaozuo is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the west, Luoyang to the southwest, and the province of Shanxi...
(Henan) City Public Security Bureau established a mechanism to analyse public opinion after criticism of the police by netizen
Netizen
The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen. It is defined as an entity or person actively involved in online communities and a user of the internet, especially an avid one. The term can also imply an interest in improving the internet, especially in regard to open...
s appeared on the internet regarding a traffic incident. The Bureau responded with 120 staff calling for the truth to be revealed in line with the public opinion, which gradually shifted and eventually supported the police position, denouncing the original poster. In the aftermath of the 2008 Guizhou riot, internet forums were filled with posts critical of the local authorities; the China News Weekly later reported that "the major task of the propaganda group was to organize commentators to past [sic] posts on websites to guide online public opinions."
In 2010, the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Communist Youth League's official website published a summary, saying that there were more than 200 topics by Shanghai Municipal Authorities' Internet commentators posted at People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
site, Xinhua site, Eastday (东方网), Sina
Sina.com
SINA is an online media company for China and Chinese communities around the world. SINA operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, SINA Mobile, SINA Online, and SINA.net. SINA has over 100 million registered users worldwide...
and Tianya
Tianya Club
Tianya Club is an Internet forum in China; currently it is the 12th most visited site in the People's Republic of China and 72nd overall. It was founded on 14 February 1999.It provides BBS, blog, microblog and photo album services....
after many incidents in 2009, including Lotus Riverside
Lotus Riverside
Lotus Riverside is a residential apartment complex located in Minhang District, Shanghai, China.-Events:On June 27, 2009 at 5:30am local time, Block 7, one of the eleven 13-storey buildings of the apartment complex, collapsed killing one worker....
incident, Green Dam
Green Dam Youth Escort
Green Dam Youth Escort is content-control software for Windows developed in the People's Republic of China . Originally under a directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to take effect on 1 July 2009, it was to be mandatory to have either the software pre-installed, or...
software forced installation, Putuo Urban Administrative incident, H1N1's control, Shanghai entrapment incident (钓鱼执法), Pan Rong (潘蓉)'s self-immolation, etc. It was praised by Shanghai Internet Publicity Office.
Range of operation
The Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of ChinaMinistry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which is responsible for culture policy and activities in the country, including managing national museums and monuments; Astroturfing and promoting government policies; promoting and protecting the arts The...
now holds regular training sessions, whose participants are required to pass an exam after which they are issued a job certification. Some estimates claim thousands of such commentators while other estimates put their numbers as high as 280,000–300,000.
According to the Chinese Communists' opinions of the recruitment of university Work Committee (tentative), the university Internet commentators are mainly selected from cadres or student cadres at Communist Party Publicity Department of universities, Youth League, Office of Academic Affairs, Network Center, Admissions Employment Department, Political Theory Department, Teaching Department and other units.
The court of Qinghe District
Qinghe District, Huai'an
Qinghe District, Huai'an is a district of Jiangsu, China. It is under the administration of Huai'an city.-References:*...
, Huai'an
Huai'an
Huai'an , known as Huaiyin before 2001, is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu province of Eastern China. It borders Suqian to the northwest, Lianyungang to the north, Yancheng to the east, Yangzhou to the southeast, and the province of Anhui to the southwest.The municipality has 4,799,889...
organized a team of 12 commentators. Gansu Province
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
hired 650 commentators, sorted by their writing abilities. Suqian Municipal Publicity Department's first 26 commentators' team were reported by Yangtse Evening Post
Yangtse Evening Post
The Yangtse Evening Post is a Chinese Language newspaper published from Nanjing, China. It is one of world's most circulated newspapers.-External links:*http://www.mondotimes.com/1/world/cn/192/4541/11429#...
in April 2005. According to high-profile independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Chinese blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger Li Ming
Li Ming
Li Ming may refer to:* Leon Lai , Chinese name Li Ming, Hong Kong singer and actor* Li Ming , Chinese football player* Li Ming , Chinese football player and coach...
, the pro-Chinese government web commentators must number "at least in the tens of thousands".
Wen Yunchao (温云超), a formal Internet commentator said that there were about 20 full-time commentators for the local news websites in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. A county-level discipline inspection commission's Internet commentator estimated more than 100 spare-time Internet commentator in his county, whose population was about 1 million. Hu Yong, an Internet expert from Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
, said that "the public opinion molders have already penetrated different layers of Chinese society", he found public opinion watchmen that deal with negative information on the forums in tourist city's airport and county-level middle school.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
secretary-general Salil Shetty
Salil Shetty
Salil Shetty has been the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign since October 2003. Before joining the UN, he served as the Chief Executive of ActionAid. He is an Indian national.-Amnesty International :...
in March 2011 warned that countries, like China and Iran, were investing "considerable resources into pro-government blogs" in an effort to cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
state power.
Every large Chinese website is instructed by the Information Office to create a trained team of Internet commentators.
In a leaked propaganda directive to 50 cent party internet commentators, their objective was stated as:
In order to circumscribe the influence of TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese democracyDemocracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, in order to progress further in the work of guiding public opinion, and in accordance with the requirements established by higher authorities to “be strategic, be skilled,” we hope that internet commentators conscientiously study the mindset of netizens, grasp international developments, and better perform the work of being an internet commentator. For this purpose, this notice is promulgated as set forth below:
To the extent possible make AmericaUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the target of criticismCriticismCriticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
. Play down the existence of Taiwan.
Do not directly confront [the idea of] democracy; rather, frame the argument in terms of “what kind of system can truly implement democracy.”
To the extent possible, choose various examples in Western countries of violence and unreasonable circumstances to explain how democracy is not well-suited to capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
Use America’s and other countries’ interference in international affairsInternational affairsInternational affairs may refer to:* Diplomacy* International relations* International Affairs Association* International Affairs , a peer-reviewed academic journal first published in 1924...
to explain how Western democracy is actually an invasion of other countries and [how the West] is forcibly pushing [on other countries] Western values.
Use the bloody and tear-stained history of a [once] weak people [i.e., China] to stir up pro-Party and patriotic emotions.
Increase the exposure that positive developments inside China receive; further accommodate the work of maintaining [social] stability.
Salary
The English version of China-based Global Times reported that Changsha Publicity Department's Internet commentators were paid 0.5 yuan per post, which is considered as the origin of the term "50 Cent Party". However, according to the local party-building website, the basic salary of such commentators was 600 yuanChinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
in 2006.
In 2010, the Internet commentators from Hengyang
Hengyang
Hengyang is the second largest city of China's Hunan Province. It straddles the Xiang River about 160 km south of Changsha.-History:Its former name was Hengzhou . This was the capital of a prefecture in the Tang Dynasty's Jiangnan and West Jiangnan circuits...
Municipal Committee Party School were paid 0.1 yuan per post and less than 100 yuan's monthly bonus.
A county-level discipline inspection commission's Internet commentator from Hunan Province told Global Times that a 500 words article is worth 40 yuan on local websites and 200 yuan on national sites.
Terms
There is an alternate official term for the Internet Commentator, as well as several unofficial terms coined by netizenNetizen
The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen. It is defined as an entity or person actively involved in online communities and a user of the internet, especially an avid one. The term can also imply an interest in improving the internet, especially in regard to open...
s for them:
| Chinese (Simp/Trad) | Pinyin | Literally in English | Commonly in English | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official name (Primary) | /網絡評論員 | wǎngluò pínglùn yuán | Internet commentator | Internet commentator | Abbreviation in Chinese: 网评员/網評員 (wǎng píng yuán) |
| Official name (Secondary) | /網絡閱評員 | wǎngluò yuè píng yuán | Internet examiner and commentator | N/A | |
| Unofficial term | /五毛黨 or simply 五毛 | wǔmáo dǎng or wǔmáo | 5 Mao"毛" (Máo) is a colloquial unit of current Chinese currency Renminbi Renminbi The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC... which equals to 0.1 basic unit yuan. Party or 5 Mao |
50 Cent Party | The most common name, pejorative. Other English translation: 50 Cent Army |
| Unofficial term | /網評猿 | wǎng píng yuán | Ape who comments on Internet | N/A | Pronounced identically with the above Chinese wǎng píng yuán 网评员 abbreviation, punning yuán (猿 "ape; monkey") for yuán (员 "personnel, staff member"), pejorative |
| Other English terms | /紅馬甲, /紅衛兵 | hóng mǎjiǎ, hóng wèibīng | N/A | Red vest, Red vanguard | The Chinese translation for these English terms are rarely used |
Among those names, "50 Cent Party" (五毛党) is the most common and pejorative unofficial term. It was created by Chinese netizen
Netizen
The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen. It is defined as an entity or person actively involved in online communities and a user of the internet, especially an avid one. The term can also imply an interest in improving the internet, especially in regard to open...
s as a satire. Many trace the origin of the "50 cent" name to the salaries at the Publicity Department of Changsha, which according to the English version of Global Times
Global Times
The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues...
, supplemented Internet Commentators' basic income with 50 cents ("5 Mao") per post since October, 2004.
The term is derogatorily applied by cynical Chinese netizens to any person who blatantly expresses pro-Communist Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
thoughts online. However, there's another word "5 US Cent (五美分)" used by some pro-party netizens to denigrate anti-party, pro-democracy comments, with the implication that those commentators are hired by the governments of the United States, Taiwan or other "western" countries. Zhang Shengjun, a professor of international politics at Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University , colloqiually known as 北师大 or Beishida, is a public research university located in Beijing with strong emphasis on basic disciplines of humanities and sciences...
published an article Who would be afraid of the cap of "50 Cent Party"? on the Chinese version of Global Times, claiming that spread by western media outfits, "it has become a baton waved towards all Chinese patriots" to make the Chinese government a constant target of criticism.
The Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based Apple Daily
Apple Daily
Apple Daily is a Hong-Kong-based tabloid-style newspaper founded in 1995 by Jimmy Lai Chee Ying and is published by its company, Next Media. A sister publication carrying the same name is published in Taiwan, Republic of China under a joint venture between Next Media and other Taiwanese companies...
reported that although a search for "五毛党" ("50 Cent Party" in Chinese) on a search engine produces results, most were inaccessible and had been deleted.
Effects and opinions
The Washington Post compared the phenomenon to a practice by the John McCain's 2008 presidential campaignJohn McCain presidential campaign, 2008
John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 presidential election. His candidacy, in the works for a number of years, was informally announced on February 28, 2007 during a...
, in which McCain's campaign registered and rewarded internet commentators that promoted him or his talking point
Talking point
A talking point in debate or discourse is a succinct statement designed to persuasively support one side taken on an issue. Such statements can either be free standing or created as retorts to the opposition's talking points and are frequently used in public relations, particularly in areas heavy...
s with book signings and bus rides with the candidate.
The Internet commentator/50 Cent Party's activities were described by Chinese President Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
as "a new pattern of public-opinion guidance"; they represent a shift from erasing dissenting opinions to challenging them. In 2010, an American blogger from the Huffington Post claimed that some comments she received on one of her posts were from the 50 Cent Party. The 50 Cent Party also monitors popular US websites, news sites and blogs and posting of comments that advance Chinese governmental interests.
See also
- Great Firewall of China, a Chinese "national firewall" Internet censorship system
- Internet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
- Web brigadesWeb brigadesThe web brigades is a conspiracy theory that says there exist online teams of commentators linked to Russian security services that participate in political blogs and Internet forums to promote disinformation and prevent free discussions of undesirable subjects...
, alleged bands of Russian Internet users with a similar role - AstroturfingAstroturfingAstroturfing is a form of advocacy in support of a political, organizational, or corporate agenda, designed to give the appearance of a "grassroots" movement. The goal of such campaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political and/or commercial entity as an independent public reaction to some...