Early this year, my phone was flooded with recruitment text messages of online critics for hire.
At a time when consumers are constantly warned of online scamming, these messages could be just that. But they may also be authentic calls to join the army of social media followers, or a group known as Internet Water Army, to support accounts spinning narratives that advance China’s objectives, as well as conjure up tales that serve nationalistic interests.
The recruitment texts read: Large numbers of part-time “thumbs-up critics” urgently required. Daily wages of HK$800 to HK$2,900. No experience required and can work from home. Stand to earn as much as $100,000 a month. Interested parties, WhatsApp XXXX-XXXX.
If there was something that China has an edge over many other countries, it’s the population, as well as money. Capitalizing on them, it has unleashed a global campaign to burnish its image abroad and reiterate its narrative aimed at changing the world order. Much research on what analysts called Russian-style disinformation campaigns on international social media platforms has been released. Freedom House pointed out that the first campaign which caught international attention had focused on mayoral elections in Kaohsiung, the southern city of Taiwan in November 2018. An unlikely pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) candidate, Han Kuo-yu, won the race in a traditional Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) stronghold. Fake news stories and doctored images from a network of sources with alleged links to Beijing spread widely on social media.
The following August, Twitter announced it took down 936 accounts used as part of a Chinese state-directed disinformation campaign to “deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground”. Youtube and Facebook revealed similar removals on a smaller scale.
More recently, the YouTube account of Hong Kong’s newly-elected Chief Executive, John Lee, was terminated over US sanctions against him over his role in eroding the Chinese territory’s freedoms when he was the security chief. “Google complies with applicable US sanctions laws and enforces related policies under its Terms of Service,” the company said a statement in April. “After review and consistent with these policies, we terminated the Johnlee2022 YouTube channel”.
Despite the platforms’ efforts, we know that it’s inconceivable to eliminate disinformation and fake news. Chinese trolls are operating in large numbers, pumped by capital from the state. A New York Times report showed how Chinese authorities tap private businesses to generate content, build followers, track critics and provide other services for information campaigns. The Shanghai police in an online notice sought bids from contractors that could provide accounts on overseas social platforms including Twitter and Facebook at any time when needed. The content required was highly time-sensitive and the supplier needed to provide about 300 accounts per month on each platform.
Bot-like networks of accounts have driven an online surge in pro-China traffic in recent years. As have Chinese diplomats, government advisers and state media that use social media to not just defend national interests but also to propagate conflicting conspiracy theories. These wolf warriors have also helped to nurture a generation of hypersensitive keyboard nationalists or little pinks. With a combination of networks on hand, the posts sometimes bolster official government accounts with likes or reposts, and on other occasions they attack social media users who are critical of China or the nation’s policies.
The recruitment texts have died down after March when the Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai—the city’s most widespread in the over two-year pandemic—the biggest test to China’s zero-Covid policy. The outbreak has widened to the capital Beijing and many other regions. Still, there is no doubt they can easily resurface again, as and when needed.