For the Chinese authorities, anything goes when it comes to controlling Web
2.0 - and that includes bribing the public into posting propaganda for 50 cents,
says Hong Kong blogger Oiwan Lam.
Oiwan Lam is known
for stirring up trouble with the super strict Hong Kong internet regulators. She
became renowned on the blogosphere after facing charges for linking one of her
posts to a nude Renaissance painting last year. In this amateur video, she talks
to journalist and blogger Thomas Crampton about the Chinese government's latest
scheme to control "alternative content" on the net. She says that writing a
pro-government comment on an online debate will get you a reward of 50 cents (5
euro cents), which, if you have enough time on your hands, could amount to a
second income.
It's more about manipulation than censorship"
Thomas Crampton is a journalist in China. He is currently based in Hong Kong.
He writes the blog "Thomas Crampton - China, internet and new media seen from
Asia".
These suspicious blog messages were first noticed around the time when the
Olympic torch arrived in China. Very nationalist and pro-government comments
starting appearing in numerous online debates that were critical in some
way.
It's well known that university students in China, who are paid very little
in their first few years, work as "50-cent-ers". They're a bit like our version
of interns!
That said, you have to draw a line between them and the professionals. The
scheme is more about manipulation than censorship. The "Fifty Cent Party" is
manipulating public opinion through undercover intervention. The real censors,
working for the government, are strictly controlling information. They are the
ones who track down dissident sites and alert authorities to the use of
"subversive" terms like Falun Gong (a spritual movement banned by the Chinese
government)."