From China Digital Space

五毛党 (Wǔ Máo Dǎng): Fifty Cent Party

New character comprised of the two characters for “fifty” and “cents,” pronounced wao.

Grass-mud horses on the “fifty-cent note.”

Wu Hao, former deputy director of the Yunnan Province Propaganda Department, is showered with fifty-cent bills during a speech.

“Love to hide, do not love the truth / Love to be first, love to stand out / Love to guide public opinion, and love even more to pretend to be a netizen / My ten fingers are black / I do not have eyes / Who am I? / You cannot see me. / I am an Internet commentator / I am Fifty Cents.”

Netizens first coined the term “Fifty Cent Party” to refer to undercover Internet commentators paid by the government to sway public opinion (“fifty cents” is a reference to the alleged pay received per post). Now a “fifty-center” is anyone who actively and publicly posts opinions online that defend or support government policy.

The Fifty Cent Party has become the object of much scorn. Netizens have created comics about the Fifty Cent Party and “training manuals” for fifty-centers.

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei conducted a lengthy interview with a self-described fifty-center which circulated during his 2011 detention.

Word of the Week: Fifty Cents

4 April 2012, by Anne Henochowicz

Challenging the 50 Cent Party

7 March 2012, by Samuel Wade

Fighting the 50 Cent Party's Commercial Counterparts

23 November 2011, by Samuel Wade

Video: Xishui's Fifty Cent Party Internal Training

23 September 2011, by Hernandez

Leaked Propaganda Directives and Banned “Future”

24 June 2011, by Xiao Qiang