{"id":56158,"date":"2020-12-25T13:54:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T18:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=56158"},"modified":"2020-12-25T14:01:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T19:01:59","slug":"leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=56158","title":{"rendered":"Leaked Documents Show How China\u2019s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"description-wrap\">\n<div class=\"description description-full\">\n<div class=\"series-header content\">\n<h3 class=\"series-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus\"><span style=\"color: #222222;\">Leaked Documents Show How China\u2019s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dek\">As the coronavirus spread in China, the government stage-managed what appeared on the domestic internet to make the virus look less severe and the authorities more capable, according to thousands of leaked directives and other files.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-wrap\" data-scrollama-index=\"0\">\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<aside class=\"promo x-small left\">\n<div class=\"series-entry\">\n<div class=\"lead-art\"><a class=\"aspect-3-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/series\/coronavirus\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/series\/_threeTwo400w\/20200701-coronavirus-series-3x2.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/series\/_threeTwo400w\/20200701-coronavirus-series-3x2.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/series\/_threeTwo800w\/20200701-coronavirus-series-3x2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/series\/_threeTwo1200w\/20200701-coronavirus-series-3x2.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"1.0\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"535567\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">In the early hours of Feb. 7, China\u2019s powerful internet censors experienced an unfamiliar and deeply unsettling sensation. They felt they were losing control.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"2.0\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"535570\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">The news was spreading quickly that Li Wenliang, a doctor who had\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/07\/world\/asia\/Li-Wenliang-china-coronavirus.html\">warned about a strange new viral outbreak<\/a>\u00a0only to be threatened by the police and accused of peddling rumors, had\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/world\/asia\/chinese-doctor-Li-Wenliang-coronavirus.html\">died of COVID-19<\/a>. Grief and fury\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/07\/world\/asia\/china-coronavirus-doctor-death.html\">coursed through social media<\/a>. To\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/07\/business\/china-coronavirus-doctor-death.html\">people at home and abroad<\/a>, Li\u2019s death showed the terrible cost of the Chinese government\u2019s instinct to suppress inconvenient information.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"3.0\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"535572\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">Yet China\u2019s censors decided to double down. Warning of the \u201cunprecedented challenge\u201d Li\u2019s passing had posed and the \u201cbutterfly effect\u201d it may have set off, officials got to work suppressing the inconvenient news and reclaiming the narrative, according to confidential directives sent to local propaganda workers and news outlets.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"4.0\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"535576\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">They ordered news websites not to issue push notifications alerting readers to his death. They told social platforms to gradually remove his name from trending topics pages. And they activated legions of fake online commenters to flood social sites with distracting chatter, stressing the need for discretion: \u201cAs commenters fight to guide public opinion, they must conceal their identity, avoid crude patriotism and sarcastic praise, and be sleek and silent in achieving results.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image large left\" data-pp-id=\"5\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"537199\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">\n<h3 class=\"figure-head\">Special instructions were issued to manage anger over Dr. Li\u2019s death.<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo400w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-do-not-use-push-notifications.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1720px) 826px, (min-width: 780px) calc(46.09vw + 43px), (min-width: 600px) 59.38vw, 93.21vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo400w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-do-not-use-push-notifications.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo800w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-do-not-use-push-notifications.jpg 800w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo1600w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-do-not-use-push-notifications.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo2000w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-do-not-use-push-notifications.jpg 2000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"193\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image large left\" data-pp-id=\"6\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"537316\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo400w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-we-must-recognize.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1720px) 826px, (min-width: 780px) calc(46.09vw + 43px), (min-width: 600px) 59.38vw, 93.21vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo400w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-we-must-recognize.jpg 400w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo800w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-we-must-recognize.jpg 800w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo1600w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-we-must-recognize.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/assets-c3.propublica.org\/images\/articles\/_threeTwo2000w\/2020-1218-ccp-excerpt-we-must-recognize.jpg 2000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"328\" \/><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"7.0\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-452638_192=\"538284\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-452638_192=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-452638_192=\"1\">The orders were among thousands of secret government directives and other documents that were reviewed by The New York Times and ProPublica. They lay bare in extraordinary detail the systems that helped the Chinese authorities shape online opinion during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaked Documents Show How China\u2019s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus As the coronavirus spread in China, the government stage-managed what appeared on the domestic internet to make the virus look less severe and the authorities more capable, according to thousands of leaked directives and other files. In the early hours of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[30762,30763,17175,30761,12960,30760,21167],"class_list":["post-56158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-liberty","tag-aaron-krolik","tag-adam-maida","tag-jeff-kao","tag-paul-mozur","tag-propublica","tag-raymond-zhong","tag-the-new-york-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56159,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158\/revisions\/56159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}