Recall we've talked about "drones" doing stuff on line here in CONUS....
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...sts-research-shows/ar-BBtLmvc?ocid=spartanntp
China Fakes Nearly 450 Million Social Media Posts, Research Shows
U.S. News & World Report
Kevin Drew
20 hrs ago
The posts that appeared on the social media websites in China appeared random and innocuous:
"[If] everyone can live good lives, then the China Dream will be realized!"
"During the Qingming festival three-day holiday, (the freeway) will remain free to 7-seater busses."
"I love China."
But a larger, more purposeful force was at play. Behind those and other posts that appear on social media sites in China each year is a concerted, if not seamlessly choreographed, government effort to monitor and influence public opinion across the country. Instead of aggressively confronting critical online posts by China's citizens during politically sensitive news events, hundreds of millions of social media postings try a different approach: cheerful distraction.
A new study by U.S. researchers, aided by the leak of local government data in China, sheds new understanding on how Beijing approaches monitoring and controlling the public in the online world. The study challenges conventional beliefs by journalists, academics and analysts about the Communist Party's tactics at online control and censure in China.
Among the surprising findings: Online posts are coming from government workers who pose as ordinary people. These workers in turn flood social media sites with posts intended to distract, not confront, potential critics of the government. Conventional thinking has held that an unknown number of people are hired to steer and even shut down online discussion.
These people, rumors held, are paid 50 cents for each social media post, giving rise to the group being referred to as the "Fifty-Cent Party." The idea of a cadre of Fifty-Cent Party people aggressively stamping out criticism of the government is false, says Gary King of Harvard University, one of the study's researchers.
"We all thought these people (government-directed online posters) were criticizing the critics," King says. Instead of the government stepping in to censure most of the public's online discussions, government-directed posts are "cheerleading for the state in large bursts of activity."
The research is the latest work focusing on the wide-open digital space in mainland China, a country where the world's largest online audience and exploding social media industry runs headlong into heavy government censorship of the internet. The study also comes as June 4th approaches, the anniversary of the 1989 government crackdown on students in Tiananmen Square and a period when websites that the government deems potentially dangerous – such as Wikipedia – are blocked across the mainland.
China's government keeps tight controls on the country's media. Firewalls, the closing of publications and websites and the jailing of journalists and activists are among the methods used to stamp out potential challenges to government authority. The country has more journalists imprisoned – 49 by last December – than any other country, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In the world of social media, the tension between government control and freewheeling debate is delicate. The microblogging site Sina Weibo, for example, constantly balances government directives while also working to be sufficiently open to remain popular.
Journalists working in China have also turned to social media and other online forums to report on big news events that may be tightly regulated in traditional media, a report published by China Digital Times, a bilingual California-based website that covers China.
The central government in Beijing has in recent years tightened its control of the internet and social media, says Xiao Qiang, founder and editor-in-chief of China Digital Times. The tighter regulation followed the rise of President Xi Jingping to power in 2012. Beijing's campaign to regulate online behavior reached its highest level in 2013 and 2014, Xiao says.
"It did intimidate a large number of (online) voices," Xiao says of the campaign.
Earlier this year, however, Xi Jingping said the news media must serve as a propaganda tool for the Communist Party as the government is quieting dissent at a level unseen in decades.
To explore the world of social media posts, King was joined by Jennifer Pan of Stanford University and Margaret E. Roberts of the University of California, San Diego. The trio employed a large number of research assistants to examine data from a propaganda office in central China that was leaked online in 2014. The data included a vast amount of government emails and reports that provided a picture of the massive effort to shape online discussions across the country.
The research team then created fake accounts in order to confirm that government workers were receiving guidance about social media posts from higher authorities. These workers, King says, are believed to not be paid 50 cents or any other amount for their posts.
"It's just part of their job. An add-on to their normal daily tasks."
The researchers estimate that about 448 million "fake" posts – dispatches from government workers posing as ordinary citizens – are annually filed to allow the government "to actively control opinion without having to censor as much as they might otherwise," according to the report. These postings usually come in "big bursts," King says, during times of potentially sensitive events.
The greatest value of the research is its effort at providing a reasonable estimate of the scale of the government's effort to manage social media behavior, says Xiao, who as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studies censorship in China.
The study builds on earlier research by the academics about social media postings in China. Previous works shows how China's government censors allow people on the internet a sizable amount of freedom of expression, even criticism of the government. The strategy also allows authorities to monitor public opinion about issues and policies, King says.
"When someone criticizes the government, they (censors) leave it alone," says King, adding that it's only when people online call for action, such as a protest or rally, that spurs more aggressive government action.
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...sts-research-shows/ar-BBtLmvc?ocid=spartanntp
China Fakes Nearly 450 Million Social Media Posts, Research Shows
U.S. News & World Report
Kevin Drew
20 hrs ago
The posts that appeared on the social media websites in China appeared random and innocuous:
"[If] everyone can live good lives, then the China Dream will be realized!"
"During the Qingming festival three-day holiday, (the freeway) will remain free to 7-seater busses."
"I love China."
But a larger, more purposeful force was at play. Behind those and other posts that appear on social media sites in China each year is a concerted, if not seamlessly choreographed, government effort to monitor and influence public opinion across the country. Instead of aggressively confronting critical online posts by China's citizens during politically sensitive news events, hundreds of millions of social media postings try a different approach: cheerful distraction.
A new study by U.S. researchers, aided by the leak of local government data in China, sheds new understanding on how Beijing approaches monitoring and controlling the public in the online world. The study challenges conventional beliefs by journalists, academics and analysts about the Communist Party's tactics at online control and censure in China.
Among the surprising findings: Online posts are coming from government workers who pose as ordinary people. These workers in turn flood social media sites with posts intended to distract, not confront, potential critics of the government. Conventional thinking has held that an unknown number of people are hired to steer and even shut down online discussion.
These people, rumors held, are paid 50 cents for each social media post, giving rise to the group being referred to as the "Fifty-Cent Party." The idea of a cadre of Fifty-Cent Party people aggressively stamping out criticism of the government is false, says Gary King of Harvard University, one of the study's researchers.
"We all thought these people (government-directed online posters) were criticizing the critics," King says. Instead of the government stepping in to censure most of the public's online discussions, government-directed posts are "cheerleading for the state in large bursts of activity."
The research is the latest work focusing on the wide-open digital space in mainland China, a country where the world's largest online audience and exploding social media industry runs headlong into heavy government censorship of the internet. The study also comes as June 4th approaches, the anniversary of the 1989 government crackdown on students in Tiananmen Square and a period when websites that the government deems potentially dangerous – such as Wikipedia – are blocked across the mainland.
China's government keeps tight controls on the country's media. Firewalls, the closing of publications and websites and the jailing of journalists and activists are among the methods used to stamp out potential challenges to government authority. The country has more journalists imprisoned – 49 by last December – than any other country, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In the world of social media, the tension between government control and freewheeling debate is delicate. The microblogging site Sina Weibo, for example, constantly balances government directives while also working to be sufficiently open to remain popular.
Journalists working in China have also turned to social media and other online forums to report on big news events that may be tightly regulated in traditional media, a report published by China Digital Times, a bilingual California-based website that covers China.
The central government in Beijing has in recent years tightened its control of the internet and social media, says Xiao Qiang, founder and editor-in-chief of China Digital Times. The tighter regulation followed the rise of President Xi Jingping to power in 2012. Beijing's campaign to regulate online behavior reached its highest level in 2013 and 2014, Xiao says.
"It did intimidate a large number of (online) voices," Xiao says of the campaign.
Earlier this year, however, Xi Jingping said the news media must serve as a propaganda tool for the Communist Party as the government is quieting dissent at a level unseen in decades.
To explore the world of social media posts, King was joined by Jennifer Pan of Stanford University and Margaret E. Roberts of the University of California, San Diego. The trio employed a large number of research assistants to examine data from a propaganda office in central China that was leaked online in 2014. The data included a vast amount of government emails and reports that provided a picture of the massive effort to shape online discussions across the country.
The research team then created fake accounts in order to confirm that government workers were receiving guidance about social media posts from higher authorities. These workers, King says, are believed to not be paid 50 cents or any other amount for their posts.
"It's just part of their job. An add-on to their normal daily tasks."
The researchers estimate that about 448 million "fake" posts – dispatches from government workers posing as ordinary citizens – are annually filed to allow the government "to actively control opinion without having to censor as much as they might otherwise," according to the report. These postings usually come in "big bursts," King says, during times of potentially sensitive events.
The greatest value of the research is its effort at providing a reasonable estimate of the scale of the government's effort to manage social media behavior, says Xiao, who as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studies censorship in China.
The study builds on earlier research by the academics about social media postings in China. Previous works shows how China's government censors allow people on the internet a sizable amount of freedom of expression, even criticism of the government. The strategy also allows authorities to monitor public opinion about issues and policies, King says.
"When someone criticizes the government, they (censors) leave it alone," says King, adding that it's only when people online call for action, such as a protest or rally, that spurs more aggressive government action.