The Epoch Times has previously reported on how the communist regime has mobilized the so-called 50-cent Army, or professionally hired internet trolls, to sway internet public opinion in favor of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 2000. They create millions of messages a year, following orders of internal directives to target specific persons or groups, such as to make America “the target of criticism” and “play down the existence of Taiwan.”
Recently, online photos began circulating widely, of prison inmates in China who were being trained to become part of the Chinese regime’s troll army. According to an article posted on Chinese internet portal China News Center, prisoners or prisoners on death row would write social media posts praising the Party. Once they reached their online post quota, the reward would be to reduce their sentences. They were assigned to influence public opinion, promote the Communist Party, and defame people and countries that the Communist Party would like to discredit.
