OpinionSun Yang backlash: have China’s online ‘50-cent gang’ trolls turned on former king?

Chinese trolls and social media users, who largely supported Sun even after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in February, now seem to be abandoning him

The sudden switch, after the CAS released the full report, begs the question: why now?

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Is China turning its back on Sun Yang? Photo: AP

Published: 2:49pm, 8 Mar 2020Updated: 2:48pm, 8 Mar 2020

There’s nothing quite like the wrath of China’s social media trolls.

Descending on an account like an angry hive of bees, they pepper victims with relentless attacks in broken English, rife with Chinese flags, exclamation marks and all caps. Just ask Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut, one of the most notable on an ever-growing list. Bogut, who famously tweeted “Swimmers who medal vs Sun Yang should break the podiums with hammers”, got blindsided in a textbook case of online retaliation.

Bogut, 35, was the recipient of some fairly vile, despicable attacks, which included death threats and sexual assault threats against his wife and child. Of course, how can we forget Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who ignited an international diplomatic crisis by simply hitting the retweet button? The scorn directed at him forced him into hiding, not only online, but in the real world, as a cascade of negativity descended down upon him for seven words: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”.

One of the fascinating studies done on China’s notorious “50-cent gang” (wu mao dang) of government-backed internet warriors is a 2017 paper published in the American Political Science Review, which specifically outlines the network the government utilises to plan and coordinate attacks on people who speak ill against the political establishment.

Chinese social media users are now posting apologies to Mack Horton on his accounts. But why now? Photo: AP

Named after the amount of cash users reportedly get (although proven false in the study), the gigantic apparatus the government created is staggering. Co-authored by a Harvard professor, and one from Stanford and the University of California, San Diego, the paper outlines the vast network the Chinese government employs when it comes to influencing social media opinion.