Are Right-Wing Libertarian Internet Trolls Getting Paid to Dumb Down Online Conversations? | Media | AlterNet

Are Right-Wing Libertarian Internet Trolls Getting Paid to Dumb Down Online Conversations? | Media | AlterNet:

"The weapon used by both state and corporate players is a technique known as astroturfing. An astroturf campaign is one that mimics spontaneous grassroots mobilizations, but which has in reality been organized. Anyone writing a comment piece in Mandarin critical of the Chinese government, for example, is likely to be bombarded with abuse by people purporting to be ordinary citizens, upset by the slurs against their country."