Looking for an Internet Job in China? No Skills? Become an Internet Commenter

Everyone knows that the Chinese internet is censored. What’s censored? All kinds of things! But these days the net moves too fast to censor everything. That’s why the government hires “internet commenters” to make pro-government posts and influence public opinion.

Among net users, these posters — along with anyone else expressing pro-government opinions regularly — are known derogatorily as the “fifty cent party,” a reference to their alleged payment (0.5 RMB per post).

Today, the image at right (click to enlarge it) is circulating on Sina Weibo. Originally posted by a user called In Xi’an, it appears to be a payment form for an “internet commenter”, albeit with most of the details (name, ID number, dates, post content, administrator’s signature, etc.) whited out. What isn’t whited-over is the chop, which indicates the form has been processed and accepted by the propaganda department of the CCP branch at Northwestern Polytechnical University. Also not whited-out is the payment, which reads: “30 RMB.”

This, of course, has led many netizens to joke that the salary of the “fifty cent party” has been adjusted for inflation (a reference to the high rates of inflation that have plagued China this year). But the image is just the latest in a mountain of evidence suggesting that, despite what deniers suggest, many governments and Party propaganda bureaus do indeed pay commenters to express pro-government opinions online.

So, uh, if you’re looking for a job and you don’t respect the integrity of your own beliefs or have qualms about being a cog in the propaganda machine, I guess give your local Party Propaganda Bureau a call. If this form is any indication, students are eligible too. (Or you could just become a reporter, since CCTV’s new head honcho seems to think a journalist’s job is to be a good mouthpiece for the Party).