(Minghui.org) I recently read some articles written by practitioners outside of China who clarify the facts online. It seems that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “Internet army” has been very busy.
Manipulating public opinion is now an industry, and topics range from international affairs, daily life, and entertainment. Most online platforms in China (and many outside China) are led by professional “Internet trolls” who guide the chats. They either support someone or something, or criticize someone or something, and may target a certain group or topic for a long time. They are paid to do this, and post whatever they’re told to. I’m pointing this out to remind practitioners who clarify the truth on the Internet to please be aware of this situation and avoid being fooled.
Avoid Chat Groups
Every Internet chat group was established for a reason. Since they involve discussions, the members sometimes have disagreements. Some chat groups may start out with good intentions, and the discussions are positive, but may become negative after certain people join. Some chat groups were launched with bad intentions.
It’s often hard to tell what the real situation is. A person may not initially say anything bad, but I feel that practitioners should avoid entering chat groups. This way, we won’t be adding ourselves as their “followers.” Because they are professionals they need to meet certain requirements, such as how many chat groups I have started, how many people joined, and what kind of people joined.
They collect information on which chat groups are popular, which topics are discussed, the information flow, and so on. They also estimate the impact of each post, and how many people it reached.
It’s almost impossible to know which chat group was organized by a CCP Internet troll. Some practitioners think they can just observe and not say anything. But this could be a trap, and some practitioners who joined these chat groups were arrested in the early days of the persecution. Out of curiosity, they wanted to hear the propaganda, thinking this way they could “learn” how to refute it.
Do Not Argue
When we tell people about Falun Dafa and the persecution, we mainly focus on those who don’t know the facts or don’t have an opinion. But we need to be careful when we encounter someone who has a negative opinion. We can send them a private message, and if they don’t respond, we should stop.
When we argue with the people who are paid by the CCP, algorithms may be monitoring our conversation and recommend the “debate” to more people. Doing this increases the bad peoples’ popularity and profile. These professional trolls make money based on how many messages they post.
Don’t Easily Socialize with Others
Those practitioners who clarify the facts online should be careful not to get addicted to browsing social media, or engage in topics that aren’t related to truth clarification. The Internet is filled with various types of “fishing” techniques. For example, if one person knows what a group likes, he may post something related to it. People in the group follow it, and his account becomes popular. He may began posting fabricated stories, and even replace original popular posts with opposite information—he’s pushing negative information using his popularity.
Because of algorithms, we need to pay attention to social media’s “information cocoon.” When a regular user searches the Internet for a certain topic, he may see all kinds of opinions. This is normal. When practitioners see negative opinions, we shouldn’t become anxious, but should instead just focus on what we’re doing. Sometimes the CCP agent objective is to disturb Falun Dafa practitioners, not everyday people.
We should always remember that we’re Falun Dafa practitioners when we clarify the truth, and above all, maintain righteous thoughts.
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Category: Cultivation Insights
