Who Are the Chinese Trolls of the '50 Cent Army'?

On every major public occasion in China, like the current National Day Golden Week holiday that began Oct. 1, the nation’s military is deployed to appear in endless parades and public outreach events. Online, a different sort of army is also deployed. The “50 Cent Army” is a group of state-backed internet commenters whose numbers have reportedly ranged from 500,000 to two million. The root of the nickname - the idea that the government pays 50 renminbi cents per pro-China post - has long...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - vendredi 7 octobre 2016