Astroturfing

[MidnightWizard]

Now here is a new word / concept I have just learnt from this interesting website --> George Monbiot


BOT WARS

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

Every month more evidence piles up, suggesting that online comment threads and forums are being hijacked by people who aren’t what they seem to be.
The anonymity of the web gives companies and governments golden opportunities to run astroturf operations: fake grassroots campaigns, which create the impression that large numbers of people are demanding or opposing particular policies.
This deception is most likely to occur where the interests of companies or governments come into conflict with the interests of the public.

Interesting -- I wonder how much of this goes on in SA ?????