“Opinion platforms are free. So if I have 50 accounts, it can quickly bring about a change in the way the wind blows,” states Wayne (a pseudonym). Most of the time he runs an online marketing company, but during election time, he wears the hat of a cyber mercenary, leading a three-person team to manipulate social media accounts and influence public opinion.

Wayne got his start as a cyber mercenary after helping a KMT candidate win a city assembly seat five years ago. At present he has a presidential candidate as a client, and says that he welcomes any and all comers as clients, with the exception of the Chinese Communist party.

With nearly 60 accounts on Taiwan’s biggest PTT electronic bulletin board system, how does he go about changing the way the wind blows? The following is his account:

We don’t talk about this sort of service like a regular company; mostly we rely on word of mouth. Mainstream marketing companies aren’t necessarily equipped to manipulate PTT bulletin boards, so people come to us for help.

What makes PTT especially difficult to operate is understanding the ecosystem, as well as grasping the rules and language usage of each discussion board to get others to resonate with the message.

According to my observation, the majority of PTT users are in the 25- to-40-year-old range. The number of users peaked between 2005 and 2013, and PTT has somewhat fallen out of favor these days. But for those thirtysomethings among us, there are still quite a few users, many of whom have no set political position, except for feeling both Blue and Green camps suck equally, so they can more easily be led whichever way the wind blows by discourse that appears to be rather sensible.

In practice, each account’s personality must be set. For instance, during last year’s elections for local city and county chiefs, a local identity helped deepen people’s empathy, making it easier to stir up that “wind.” The opening line of a post could go: “I was born and raised in Kaohsiung. And it pains me how over the past 16 years Kaohsiung has gotten so old and poor.” A post like this could resonate with people.

I haven’t done a full inventory of all the accounts I have recently, which is something I need to do before I kick into action to see which ones are usable.

In commerce, if an account associated with a male makes a post, it shouldn’t be to give recommendations for female cosmetic enhancement surgery. The point being, it shouldn’t contradict itself for fear of getting caught.

Setting Identities, Frequently Changing IP Addresses

One common way to shift the direction of the wind is to first post a news item, and then respond to or recommend the post (make a comment or recommend the post below the article).

Posting news is the first volley, which provides a subject for discussion. Since everyone looks at the first several responses, to be on the safe side I make several comments in response using different accounts that I work.

Our team consists of three core members. After using Account A to make a post, we’ll go to Account B on another computer and leave a comment below. And before doing that, the team must quickly switch the IP addresses of each account.

Another way to attract attention is to make a scoop, which is harder to do than posting news. The reason is that it requires explosive content to drop, and unless you have someone to feed it to you on the down low, it is difficult for most people to do.

There are risks involved. If someone feels there are egregious transgressions afoot, they might try to get to the bottom of your identity or even sue. So you have to couch everything in equivocal terms, like “I had a dream, that such and such a politician said they were going to resign…” Scoops that aren’t completely overt are safer to make.

When both sides are doing battle, oftentimes each side tries to expose the other side’s operators. For example, during the 2010 mayoral elections for Taiwan’s five major cities under direct central government jurisdiction, one PTT article claimed that Yang Chiu-hsing had been caught lying, which some later suspected had been planted by a certain aide to Chen Chu. But these sorts of things always have to be verified.

(Image taken from PTT politics board)

The main way to expose the other side is when the poster changes accounts without changing their IP address, or the IP addresses of a group of posters are very similar, which make it easier to find them out. We have a tool for swapping IP addresses, and we are strict about requiring members to follow that rule. We also check to verify that that step has been taken before each post is made.

Many people are under the impression that long on-line duration is the sign of a professional cyber influencer, but that’s not the case. Unless there’s a breaking story or someone working for me has an emergency to deal with, I always choose to post between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., because the wind must catch the maximum number of people to be most effective.

What’s more, if my identity is established as a working person, and I’m online on a PTT at all hours of the day, it looks suspicious to anyone paying attention to your online hours, leading to accusations of being a “phony.”

When someone is outed on a discussion board for being a hired gun or having a fake account, it leaves a record that can be traced. If it’s set up to speak for a particular viewpoint, then it’s as good as trashed. If a Facebook account is reported, on the other hand, it doesn’t quite feel like being publicly called out.

Have you read? More on social media and politics:
♦ Taiwan’s Online ‘Opinion War’ Arrived
♦ In the Era of ‘Red Infiltration’
♦ Rise of the Haters, Preventing Fake News

NT$100K a Month

Our company doesn’t specialize in political operations. Normally, we do Facebook marketing or sponsored content, like making Facebook posts for various brands. These form our day-to-day income. Then, when elections come around, we’re able to make a nice big windfall.

Our rates fall within a wide range. Normally a marketing company contracts for the entire marketing package, charing around NT$400-500K per month to help with Facebook posts, images, and public opinion.

When it gets to me, it can be a lump sum or per article cost. For lump sums, I’ve had everything from NT$30,000 to NT$100,000. For individual posts, it can vary between NT$1,500 and NT$2,000, so for 30 posts a month, that would be NT$60,000.

However, post volume depends on notoriety. For instance, the base level for Ko Wen-je is different from Huang Wei-che. If we’re helping Huang Wei-che make 50 posts per month, the degree of difficulty is higher, so we wouldn’t charge by the post.

Our team members make between NT$30,000 and 40,000 per month, plus bonuses during campaign periods. This field doesn’t really require a certain type of academic background, just the willingness to work hard, constant attention to switching IP addresses, and not getting caught.

We have a client for the 2020 presidential election right now. Basically, we don’t turn away any potential client except the Chinese Communist Party. There are legal issues with taking Communist Party money in Taiwan, and I’m not inclined to play such high-stakes games as long as we’re making enough money. When it gets to the national security level, it’s a little dangerous.

Is anyone doing business with the Chinese Communists? I’m sure of it, because I know some. One of them operates on Facebook, and posts pictures slandering or criticizing the government. After all, when you’re in power you’re open to criticism from a lot of people. This particular guy just makes pictures into memes or puts out short essays.

Translated by David Toman
Edited by Sharon Tseng

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About Wayne (Pseudonym)

Born / 1989
Current Position / Director of Internet marketing company
Education / University degree in business
Experience / First handled online promotion for KMT city assembly candidate in 2014, helping the candidate get elected; began recruiting talent and systematically training staff to manipulate online opinion in 2016.