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There has, yes. Straight from the Senate. [1] There's a 300 million dollar budget to counter "chinese influence" and "promote transparency." Where does that mo
by grapeskin 5y ago
There has, yes. Straight from the Senate. [1]
There's a 300 million dollar budget to counter "chinese influence" and "promote transparency." Where does that money go? Who knows. But traditionally this goes to paying for media narratives, and in the 21st century, online comments are definitely a good bang for your buck. And star witnesses are also a good way to counter the influence of a country and demand transparency. They've done it before. [2]
I don't think we'll know the reality of this until 20 years down the road.
[1] https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FY21%20BILL%20HIGHLIGHTS_SFOPS_final.pdf https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FY21%20B...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony
- golergka 5y agoThis money can go to a lot of different activities, and I don't see any reason to believe that it's actually about comment farms and not "white-hat" PR.