China Creates, Recruits Social Media Accounts to Sway Public Opinion, Documents Show

Chinese officials surf the internet in Beijing, on March 14, 2004. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

A series of Chinese government documents reveal local authorities’ methods for monitoring and controlling public opinion on the internet, including how they recruit popular social media accounts or create their own to post pro-government content, monitor content that is unfavorable to the regime, and handle public relations disasters.

Authorities outlined a bureaucratic process for how to handle “negative” public opinion—when netizens express displeasure at the government, in a series of internal government directives leaked to The Epoch Times by a trusted source.

Cultivating Pro-Government Influencers 

In a document marked “secret” that contained minutes from a meeting of directors of the Henan Province Network Information Office, officials noted the importance of cultivating pro-government social media influencers through recruiting existing accounts and creating their own.