Pinkies, Take Note

2021 It might Break Your Pinky Heart. Namewee, Ft.Kimberley Chen > .

Explanation: 15:26 Song mocking China's [pathetic] online troll army goes viral > .

21-11-26 Why has China banned a viral pop song? - Digging > .

50 Cent Party, 50 Cent Army and wumao are terms for Internet commentators who are hired by the authorities of the People's Republic of China to manipulate public opinion and disseminate disinformation to the benefit of the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was created during the early phases of the Internet's rollout to the wider public in China.

The name is derived from the allegation that commentators are paid ¥0.50 for every post. They create favourable comments [aka, LIES] or articles on popular Chinese social media networks that are intended to derail discussions that are unhelpful to the Communist Party, they promote narratives that serve the government's interests, and they write disparaging comments and misinformation about political opponents and critics of the Chinese government, both domestic and abroad.

Authors of a paper published in 2017 in the American Political Science Review estimate that the Chinese government fabricates 488 million social media posts per year. In contrast to common assumptions, the 50 Cent Army consists mostly of paid bureaucrats who respond to government directives and rarely defend their government from criticism or engage in direct arguments because "... the goal of this massive secretive operation is instead to distract the public and change the subject." Around 80% of the analysed posts involve pro-China cheerleading with inspirational slogans, and 13% involve general praise and suggestions on governmental policies. Despite the common allegation of the commentators getting paid for their posts, the paper suggested there was "no evidence" that they are paid anything for their posts, instead being required to do so as a part of their official party duties.

Research indicated a "massive secretive operation" to fill China's Internet with propaganda, and has resulted in some 488 million posts written by fake social media accounts, representing about 0.6% of the 80 billion posts generated on Chinese social media. To maximize their influence, such pro-government comments are made largely during times of intense online debate, and when online protests have a possibility of transforming into real life actions. The colloquial term wumao has also been used by some English speakers outside of China as an insult against people with perceived pro-CCP bias.