(aka. China does Stepford).
The Chinese Communist Party has raised a "50 Cent Army" of internet commentators who are paid RMB0.50 for every pro-Chinese and CCP-endorsed comment they post on blog and media sites. Estimates suggest there are tens of thousands of such spin doctors, armed and ready to shape Chinese public opinion:
Comments, rumours and opinions can be quickly spread between internet groups in a way that makes it hard for the government to censor.
So instead of just trying to prevent people from having their say, the government is also attempting to change they way they think.
To do this, they use specially trained - and ideologically sound - internet commentators.
They have been dubbed the "50-cent party" because of how much they are reputed to be paid for each positive posting (50 Chinese cents; $0.07; £0.05).
Full story from the BBC, [HT: Boing Boing]