China: Does the secret “Fifty Cents Party” exist?
Written byYantao BI
Wu Mao（五毛）is fifty cents or half yuan in Chinese currency. Wu Mao Dang (五毛党), or Fifty Cents Party, is a derogatory term applied to those pro-government bloggers who are suspected to receive fifty cents for every pro-party post. Does Wu Mao Dang really exist in China, as rumors say? A Chinese blogger took great pains to collect some evidence [zh], but dlliushaokui at sina.com expressed his doubt [zh]about its existence.
Written byYantao BI
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I can’t really understand Chinese. Could you summarize what the posts are about? I’m interested.
Originally, Fifty Cents Party refers to the part-time web commentators employed by a specific minstry or a local government in China to “guide” the online public opinion. There are countless news reports about employing or training web commentators in China. Now it has already gone beyond politics.
Definitely, it is Chinese astroturfing.Thank you for letting me know this term.
I am trying to collect more information and hope to include it in my PhD dissertation.