Global Voices Online

China: Does the secret “Fifty Cents Party” exist?

Thursday, November 13th, 2008 @ 15:36 UTC

by Yantao BI

Countries:: China
Topics:: Freedom of Speech, Governance, Media, Politics
Languages:: Chinese

Wu Mao（五毛）is fifty cents or half yuan in Chinese currency. Wu Mao Dang (五毛党), or Fifty Cents Party, is a derogatory term applied to those pro-government bloggers who are suspected to receive fifty cents for every pro-party post. Does Wu Mao Dang really exist in China, as rumors say? A Chinese blogger took great pains to collect some evidence [zh], but dlliushaokui at sina.com expressed his doubt [zh]about its existence.

3 comments

Bas - Istanbul Expat

I can’t really understand Chinese. Could you summarize what the posts are about? I’m interested.

# 2008-11-13 at 16:20 pm

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Pingback: Chinese Astroturfing?

[...] Is there a “Fifty Cents [per post] Party” in China that fills the blogosphere with pro-government posts and comments? It would be surprising if there weren’t. Astroturfing is a tried-and-true practice of politicians, lobbyists, and marketers around the world. (Tried-and-true unless you get caught at it.) Tags: China, Corruption, Politics · Thu, 13 Nov 2008, 4:46 pm EST [...]

# 2008-11-13 at 21:46 pm
Yantao BI

Originally, Fifty Cents Party refers to the part-time web commentators employed by a specific minstry or a local government in China to “guide” the online public opinion. There are countless news reports about employing or training web commentators in China. Now it has already gone beyond politics.

Definitely, it is Chinese astroturfing.Thank you for letting me know this term.

I am trying to collect more information and hope to include it in my PhD dissertation.

# 2008-11-14 at 0:11 am

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