I thought it's well known that the government hired moderators are for propaganda purpose, right?
I just want to make sure it's not a common mistranslation and that people aren't talking past each other. One side is saying the government is actively lying in order to manipulate people. And the other side might be interpreting as the government working on their public image... which is uh a lot more reasonable when put that way.
Funny how language shape the way we think.
When the Chinese government accuses someone of "actively lying in order to manipulate people", they tend to call it 谣言, i.e. "rumors".
Because if many people thought they were good and supported them they could win on merit alone, not propaganda.
And you might be wrongly thinking I am one of those supporting Chinese government and CCP here.
You can see my other reply above to see more explanation of my position.
I believe we should stand up against dictatorships and challenge them even when we have ties to them.
Being able to say anything and challenge anything is the foundation of freedom, ANY form of censorship threatens that.
People in the U.S. appreciate being able to call out their government leaders I'm sure.
Imagine if you were hauled off at night because of what you posted online.
We should all be standing with Hongkongers on this one.
tldr: the answer to government censorship is not more censorship of phrases ("五毛”) that call them out
If you have other reports about services finding bots that shilled government propaganda from other state actors you're welcome to share them.
I certainly don't like the mainstream media in the US and I do believe they peddle domestic propaganda, that doesn't mean we divulge in whataboutism and distract from this specific article we are all discussing though, definitely not without specific evidence or events.