From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Influence-for-hire or collective influence , refers to the economy that has emerged around buying and selling
influence on
social media platforms .
[1]
Overview
Companies that engage in the influence-for-hire industry range from
content farms to high end
public relations agencies. Traditionally
influence operations have largely been confined to public sector actors like intelligence agencies, in the influence-for-hire industry the groups conduction the operations are private with commerce being their primary consideration.
[2] However many of the clients in the influence-for-hire industry are countries or countries acting through proxies.
[1] They are often located in countries with less expensive digital labor.
[3]
History
In May 2021,
Facebook took a Ukrainian influence-for-hire network offline. Facebook attributed the network to organizations and consultants linked to Ukrainian politicians including
Andriy Derkach .
[4]
[5]
During the COVID-19 pandemic
state sponsored misinformation was spread through influence-for-hire networks.
[6]
In August 2021, a report published by the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute implicated the
Chinese government and the ruling
Chinese Communist Party in campaigns of online manipulation conducted against
Australia and
Taiwan using influence-for-hire.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
See also
References
^
a
b Wallace, Jacob; Boggle, Ariel; Zhang, Albert; Mansour, Hillary.
"Influence for hire. The Asia-Pacific's online shadow economy" . www.aspi.org.au . ASPI. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Loudermilk, E. Louise; O’Brien, Joseph J.; Goodrick, Scott L.; Linn, Rodman R.; Skowronski, Nicholas S.; Hiers, J. Kevin (June 10, 2022).
"Vegetation's influence on fire behavior goes beyond just being fuel" . Fire Ecology . 18 (1): 9.
doi :
10.1186/s42408-022-00132-9 .
ISSN
1933-9747 .
^ KIPAROIDZE, MARIAM (August 13, 2021).
" 'Influence for hire' networks are manipulating online discussions throughout the Asia Pacific region" . www.codastory.com . Coda Story. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Culliford, Elizabeth.
"Facebook Removes Ukraine Political 'Influence-For-Hire' Network" . www.usnews.com . US News. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Somerville, Hannah (May 13, 2021).
"Ukrainian MP blasts 'hysterical' Facebook after influence network busted" . www.euronews.com . Euro News. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Mansour, Hillary; Nkwanyana, Khwezi; Page, Matthew (July 30, 2021).
"The threat spectrum" . www.aspistrategist.org.au . ASPI. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Gibson, Liam (August 10, 2021).
"CCP outsourcing propaganda campaigns to content farms in Taiwan and Australia: Think tank" . www.taiwannews.com.tw . Taiwan News. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Galloway, Anthony (August 9, 2021).
"Growing online 'influence-for-hire' economy opens door for foreign interference: report" . www.smh.com.au . Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Barbaschow, Asha.
"ASPI suggests government work with platforms to fight disinformation for hire" . www.zdnet.com . ZDNet. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .
^ Rae, Marion (August 10, 2021).
"China hides behind hackers for hire: study" . thewest.com.au . The West Australian. Retrieved August 14, 2021 .