Freerepublic.com Story on Paid Russian Internet Trolls…..
Hey PJ: Any chance Russian President Putin is paying some of your regular posters to chime in with poorly digested pieces of statist propaganda? Check this out (from FreeRepublic.com today):
Russia uses an army of trolls on social media
While Russia’s president Vladimir Putin maintains an iron grip on the state-run media, the internet remains a big problem for Putin, as he’s had little ability to control Twitter and other social media.
Putin has responded to this problem in a bizarre way. According to documents examined by an analyst firm, since April a Russian firm called the Internet Research Agency, with a 2014 budget of $10 million, has been hiring hundreds of “internet trolls” to challenge any online article critical of Russia.
Each troll is expected to post comments on blogs and news sites 50 times per day. The comments range from lies and disinformation to abuse and profanity. Each blogger is to maintain six Facebook accounts, posting three times a day in each. On Twitter, they’re expected to manage 10 accounts and tweet 50 times a day. The Atlanticand BuzzFeed