Thousands of leaked documents show that the Chinese Communist Party has spared no expense in using its Internet army to control public opinion about the epidemic on the Internet, calling for a downplaying of the crisis and a crackdown on those who spread the truth about the epidemic. Schematic diagram.
While the CCP virus (Wuhan pneumonia) was spreading widely around the world, the epidemic in mainland China did not appear to be serious. However, this may not have been the case, as thousands of leaked documents available show that the CCP went to great lengths to control public opinion about the epidemic on the Internet, using online armies to call for a downplaying of the crisis and a crackdown on those who spread the truth about the epidemic.
The New York Times and ProPublica recently published lengthy reports that the leaked documents show that the CCP’s paid Internet army received unified management and training to constantly censor and control the Internet as directed by documents issued by the State Internet Office to cover up the truth about the epidemic and tout the CCP’s ability to control the epidemic under the pretext of social stability.
A hacking group called CCP Unmasked shared with the New York Times and ProPublica upwards of 3,200 directives and 1,800 memos and other documents from the State Internet Information Office (known as: NetInfo), as well as internal documents and computer code from Urun Big Data Services, a company that produces software used by local Communist Party governments to monitor Internet discussions and manage online net armies.
The New York Times and ProPublica articles suggest that the documents outline in great detail the systems that helped Communist authorities control online opinion during the Communist epidemic.
Doubling down on social media outbreak news was controlled
When news broke on February 7, 2020, that Dr. Li Wenliang, who had been threatened by police for issuing warnings about a new virus, had died from a CCP virus (Wuhan virus, New Crown virus, COVID-19), grief and anger spread quickly on Chinese social media, but people’s voices were quickly suppressed and news about Dr. Li Wenliang quickly faded.
A confidential document circulated to local news sites and social media platforms revealed that Dr. Li’s passing posed an “unprecedented challenge” and could trigger a “butterfly effect,” and that officials from various online information offices must work to stop “inappropriate” news and retract reports.
The classified document ordered news websites to “refrain from commenting and speculating” on Dr. Li’s death and ordered social media platforms to gradually remove his name from trending topics pages. Officials also activated numerous fake online commentator accounts, flooding social media sites with distracting messages and even deploying security forces to silence unauthorized speech.
The article notes that while the CCP has made no secret of its belief in tight control of the Internet, the leaked documents show a behind-the-scenes effort to maintain tight control, an effort that requires a large bureaucracy, the military, and the expertise of private contractors for the costly ongoing monitoring of digital news media and social media platforms.
The documents also show that Communist Party officials tried to steer public opinion not only to prevent domestic panic and debunk ‘damaging lies,’ but they also wanted to make the outbreak appear less serious and attributed this to the Communist authorities’ strong control.
Today (Dec. 30) marks the one-year anniversary of the exposure of the CCP virus. Pictured are the Chinese who revealed the truth about the Wuhan outbreak: Li Wenliang (top left), Zhang Zhan (top right), Li Zehua (bottom left), Fang Bin (center), and Chen Qiushi (bottom right). (Epoch Times composite)
Control narrative detailed to the headline font thickness
According to the document, the State Internet Information Office’s control of public opinion on the Communist Party’s viral epidemic began in early January 2020. A directive required news websites to use only government-issued material and not to make comparisons to the SARS outbreak.
In early February, a high-level Communist Party meeting called for tighter management of digital media, and local Internet information offices began taking action. A directive from the Netizen Office indicated that the agency should not only control information within China, but also seek to “positively influence international public opinion.
Agency staff began obtaining links to relevant articles that needed to be promoted, and pointed out which articles should appear on the news site’s homepage, how many hours they should remain there, and even which headlines should be in bold. There were also directives that online stories should adequately highlight the “heroic acts” of medical personnel from around the world who were dispatched to Wuhan, as well as the “important contributions” of Communist Party members.
There was also a directive that headlines should avoid using words such as ‘incurable’ and ‘fatal’ to ‘prevent social panic’. Terms used in conjunction with ‘seal’ should not be used when reporting on movement and travel restrictions. A number of directives emphasized that “negative” news about the virus should not be publicized.
Directives call for downplaying crisis and cracking down
The Internet Information Office also controlled reporting on overseas donations and purchases, with one directive stating that it was important to avoid giving the false impression that China’s fight against the epidemic depended on foreign donations.
In addition, the Internet Information Office has asked that some live video be removed, including some of the bodies that appear to be exposed in public places; scenes of people shouting in anger inside hospitals; video of workers carrying bodies from apartments; and video of a child in quarantine crying for his mother.
The death of Li Wenliang, a doctor in Wuhan, has caused unusual anger. An instruction from the Internet Information Office indicated that it would deal “severely” with the accounts of those who published incendiary stories. Another directive showed “special attention to pictures with candles, people wearing masks, all-black pictures, or other posts that make a big deal of the matter.
A large number of online memes began to disappear, and reports written by propaganda staff in Hangzhou indicated that the virus had been tightly controlled. One local official reported that the people they hired posted more than 40,000 comments online, “effectively eliminating the panic of city residents. Another county boasted that they had “cracked down” on rumor messages: public security investigated 16 people, warned 14 and detained two. Another region said they had more than 1,500 ‘net troops’ monitoring semi-closed chat groups on WeChat.
Researchers estimate that thousands of people in China work part-time, posting, commenting, and sharing content that reinforces state ideology. Many of them are lower-level employees of government departments and party organizations. Universities have also recruited students and teachers for this purpose, and local governments have held training courses for them.
Using Technology Companies to Program the Net Army
In addition to systems controlled by the Netizen Office to enforce public opinion control, the New York Times and ProPublica articles note that the CCP also uses specialized software to shape what the public can see online. According to the articles’ analysis of computer code and documentation from Yunrun, the company’s product tracks online trends, coordinates censorship activities, and manages fake social media accounts to post comments.
A software system from CloudRun provides government workers with a nimble and easy-to-use interface to quickly add preferred content to posts. Administrators can use the system to assign specific tasks to a commenter and track the commenter’s completion of the task as a way to determine the commenter’s compensation.
One document shows that commenters in Guangzhou earn $25 for an original post of more than 400 words; 40 cents for deleting negative comments; and one cent for each retweet.
Cloudrun has also created a smartphone App to make the job easier. Commenters can receive tasks in the app, post relevant comments from their personal social media accounts, and then upload screenshots to prove the task is complete.
To help train commenters, the company also produces software that resembles a video game, allowing two groups of commenters to compete against each other to see which group can generate more popular posts.
On top of that, the Hangzhou Internet Information Office has started using a ‘quarterly scorecard’ while reviewing the network. The New York Times and ProPublica articles describe how each outlet has 100 points at the start of the quarter, with points deducted for not monitoring enough postings or comments and extra points for good performance.
One report shows that in the first quarter of 2020, two local sites lost 10 points each for ‘posting illegal information related to the epidemic’ and one government portal gained an additional two points for ‘active participation in opinion-led’.
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