By Tony Connelly

China is manipulating social media to sway public opinion by flooding it with comments by paid supporters, according to a new report by Harvard academics.

The study, led by Gary King from Harvard’s department of government, uses leaked documents to illustrate how China’s policing of social media is now taking the form of distraction and cheerleading rather than censorship.

Findings within the report say that the Chinese government and its army of helpers write 488 million fake posts a year, the vast majority of which are crafted to look like they come from ordinary people.

The majority of the posts take a passive Read full story ›

Source: The Drum