Astroturfing is de practice of masking de sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., powiticaw, advertising, rewigious or pubwic rewations) to make it appear as dough it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give de statements or organizations credibiwity by widhowding information about de source's financiaw connection, uh-hah-hah-hah. The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of syndetic carpeting designed to resembwe naturaw grass, as a pway on de word "grassroots." The impwication behind de use of de term is dat instead of a "true" or "naturaw" grassroots effort behind de activity in qwestion, dere is a "fake" or "artificiaw" appearance of support.
- 1 Definition
- 2 Powicies and enforcement
- 3 Debate
- 4 Techniqwes
- 5 Business and adoption
- 6 History of incidents
- 7 See awso
- 8 References
In powiticaw science, it is defined as de process of seeking ewectoraw victory or wegiswative rewief for grievances by hewping powiticaw actors find and mobiwize a sympadetic pubwic, and is designed to create de image of pubwic consensus where dere is none. Astroturfing is de use of fake grassroots efforts dat primariwy focus on infwuencing pubwic opinion and typicawwy are funded by corporations and governmentaw entities to form opinions. On de Internet, astroturfers use software to mask deir identity. Sometimes one individuaw operates drough many personas to give de impression of widespread support for deir cwient's agenda. Some studies suggest astroturfing can awter pubwic viewpoints and create enough doubt to inhibit action, uh-hah-hah-hah. In de first systematic study of astroturfing in de United States, Oxford Professor Phiwip N. Howard argued dat de internet was making it much easier for powerfuw wobbyists and powiticaw movements to activate smaww groups of aggrieved citizens to have an exaggerated importance in pubwic powicy debates.
Powicies and enforcement
Many countries have waws dat prohibit more overt astroturfing practices. In de United States de Federaw Trade Commission (FTC) may send cease-and-desist orders or reqwire a fine of $16,000 per day for dose dat viowate its "Guides Concerning de Use of Endorsements and Testimoniaws in Advertising." The FTC's guides were updated in 2009 to address sociaw media and word-of-mouf marketing. According to an articwe in de Journaw of Consumer Powicy, de FTC's guides howds advertisers responsibwe for ensuring bwoggers or product endorsers compwy wif de guides, and any product endorsers wif a materiaw connection are reqwired to provide honest reviews.
In de European Union, de Unfair Commerciaw Practices Directive reqwires dat paid-for editoriaw content in de media provide a cwear discwosure dat de content is a sponsored advertisement. Additionawwy, it prohibits dose wif a materiaw connection from misweading readers into dinking dey are a reguwar consumer. The United Kingdom has de Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Reguwations, which prohibits "Fawsewy representing onesewf as a consumer." They awwow for up to two years in prison and unwimited fines for breaches. Additionawwy, de advertising industry in de UK has adopted many vowuntary powicies, such as de Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising, Sawe, Promotion and Direct Marketing. A trade association, de Advertising Standards Audority, investigates compwaints of breaches. The powicy reqwires dat marketing professionaws not miswead deir audience, incwuding by omitting a discwosure of deir materiaw connection, uh-hah-hah-hah.
In Austrawia astroturfing is reguwated by Section 18 of de Austrawian Consumer Law, which broadwy prohibits "misweading and deceptive conduct." According to de Journaw of Consumer Powicy, Austrawia's waws, which were introduced in 1975, are more vague. In most cases, dey are enforced drough wawsuits from competitors, rader dan de reguwatory body, de Austrawian Competition and Consumer Commission. There is awso an Internationaw Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).
Legaw reguwations are primariwy targeted towards testimoniaws, endorsements and statements as to de performance or qwawity of a product. Empwoyees of an organization may be considered acting as customers if deir actions are not guided by audority widin de company.
In October 2018, after denying dat dey had paid for peopwe to show up in support of a controversiaw power pwant devewopment project in New Orweans, Entergy was fined five miwwion dowwars for using astroturf firm The Hawdorn Group to provide actors to prevent reaw community members' voices from being counted at city counciw meetings and show fawse grassroots support.
In de book Grassroots for Hire: Pubwic Affairs Consuwtants in American Democracy, Edward Wawker defines "astroturfing" as pubwic participation dat is perceived as heaviwy incentivized, as frauduwent (cwaims are attributed to dose who did not make such statements), or as an ewite campaign masqwerading as a mass movement. Awdough not aww campaigns by professionaw grassroots wobbying consuwtants meet dis definition, de book finds dat de ewite-sponsored grassroots campaigns often faiw when dey are not transparent about deir sources of sponsorship and/or faiw to devewop partnerships wif constituencies dat have an independent interest in de issue. Wawker highwights de case of Working Famiwies for Waw-Mart, in which de campaign's wack of transparency wed to its demise.
A study pubwished in de Journaw of Business Edics examined de effects of websites operated by front groups on students. It found dat astroturfing was effective at creating uncertainty and wowering trust about cwaims, dereby changing perceptions dat tend to favor de business interests behind de astroturfing effort. The New York Times reported dat "consumer" reviews are more effective, because "dey purport to be testimoniaws of reaw peopwe, even dough some are bought and sowd just wike everyding ewse on de commerciaw Internet." Some organizations feew dat deir business is dreatened by negative comments, so dey may engage in astroturfing to drown dem out. Onwine comments from astroturfing empwoyees can awso sway de discussion drough de infwuence of groupdink.
Some astroturfing operatives defend deir practice. Regarding "movements dat have organized aggressivewy to exaggerate deir sway," audor Ryan Sager said dat dis "isn't cheating. Doing everyding in your power to get your peopwe to show up is basic powitics." According to a Porter/Novewwi executive, "There wiww be times when de position you advocate, no matter how weww framed and supported, wiww not be accepted by de pubwic simpwy because you are who you are."
Impact on society
Data mining expert Bing Liu (University of Iwwinois) estimated dat one-dird of aww consumer reviews on de Internet are fake. According to The New York Times, dis has made it hard to teww de difference between "popuwar sentiment" and "manufactured pubwic opinion, uh-hah-hah-hah." According to an articwe in de Journaw of Business Edics, astroturfing dreatens de wegitimacy of genuine grassroots movements. The audors argued dat astroturfing dat is "purposefuwwy designed to fuwfiww corporate agendas, manipuwate pubwic opinion and harm scientific research represents a serious wapse in edicaw conduct." A 2011 report found dat often paid posters from competing companies are attacking each oder in forums and overwhewming reguwar participants in de process. George Monbiot said dat persona-management software supporting astroturfing "couwd destroy de Internet as a forum for constructive debate." An articwe in de Journaw of Consumer Powicy said dat reguwators and powicy makers needed to be more aggressive about astroturfing. The audor said dat it undermines de pubwic's abiwity to inform potentiaw customers of sub-standard products or inappropriate business practices, but awso noted dat fake reviews were difficuwt to detect.
Use of one or more front groups is one astroturfing techniqwe. These groups typicawwy present demsewves as serving de pubwic interest, whiwe actuawwy working on behawf of a corporate or powiticaw sponsor. Front groups may resist wegiswation and scientific consensus dat is damaging to de sponsor's business by emphasizing minority viewpoints, instiwwing doubt and pubwishing countercwaims by corporate-sponsored experts. Fake bwogs can awso be created dat appear to be written by consumers, whiwe actuawwy being operated by a commerciaw or powiticaw interest. Some powiticaw movements have provided incentives for members of de pubwic to send a wetter to de editor at deir wocaw paper, often using a copy and paste form wetter dat is pubwished in dozens of newspapers verbatim.
Anoder techniqwe is de use of sockpuppets, where a singwe person creates muwtipwe identities onwine to give de appearance of grassroots support. Sockpuppets may post positive reviews about a product, attack participants dat criticize de organization, or post negative reviews and comments about competitors, under fake identities. Astroturfing businesses may pay staff based on de number of posts dey make dat are not fwagged by moderators. Persona management software may be used so dat each paid poster can manage five to seventy convincing onwine personas widout getting dem confused.
Pharmaceuticaw companies may sponsor patient support groups and simuwtaneouswy push dem to hewp market deir products. Bwoggers who receive free products, paid travew or oder accommodations may awso be considered astroturfing if dose gifts are not discwosed to de reader. Anawysts couwd be considered astroturfing, since dey often cover deir own cwients widout discwosing deir financiaw connection, uh-hah-hah-hah. To avoid astroturfing, many organizations and press have powicies about gifts, accommodations and discwosures.
Persona management software can age accounts and simuwate de activity of attending a conference automaticawwy to make it more convincing dat dey are genuine. At HBGary, empwoyees are given separate dumb drives dat contain onwine accounts for individuaw identities and visuaw cues to remind de empwoyee which identity dey are using at de time.
Mass wetters may be printed on personawized stationery using different typefaces, cowors and words to make dem appear personaw.
According to an articwe in The New York Times, de Federaw Trade Commission rarewy enforces its astroturfing waws. However, astroturfing operations are freqwentwy detected if deir profiwe images are recognized or if dey are identified drough de usage patterns of deir accounts. Fiwippo Menczer's group at Indiana University devewoped software in 2010 dat detects astroturfing on Twitter by recognizing behavioraw patterns.
Business and adoption
According to an articwe in de Journaw of Consumer Powicy, academics disagree on how prowific astroturfing is.
According to Nancy Cwark from Precision Communications, grass-roots speciawists charge $25 to $75 for each constituent dey convince to send a wetter to a powitician, uh-hah-hah-hah. Paid onwine commentators in China are paid 50 cents for each onwine post dat is not removed by moderators, weading to de nickname of de "50-cent party." The New York Times reported dat a business sewwing fake onwine book reviews charged $999 for 50 reviews and made $28,000 a monf shortwy after opening.
According to de Financiaw Times, astroturfing is "commonpwace" in American powitics, but was "revowutionary" in Europe when it was exposed dat de European Privacy Association, an anti-privacy "dink-tank," was actuawwy sponsored by technowogy companies.
History of incidents
Awdough de term "astroturfing" was not yet devewoped, an earwy exampwe of de practice was in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's pway Juwius Caesar. In de pway, Cassius writes fake wetters from "de pubwic" to convince Brutus to assassinate Caesar. In de earwy 1900s disposabwe cup vendor Dixie Cups convinced travewers to avoid pubwic drinking cups found in trains and shops drough a pamphwet cawwed The Cup Campaigner. The pamphwet warned dat pubwic drinking cups couwd spread disease and did not discwose dat de message was commerciawwy motivated. The term "astroturfing" was first coined in 1985 by Texas Democratic Party senator Lwoyd Bentsen when he said, "a fewwow from Texas can teww de difference between grass roots and AstroTurf... dis is generated maiw." Bentsen was describing a "mountain of cards and wetters" sent to his office to promote insurance industry interests.
In response to de passage of tobacco controw wegiswation in de US, Phiwip Morris, Burson-Marstewwer and oder tobacco interests created de Nationaw Smokers Awwiance (NSA) in 1993. The NSA and oder tobacco interests initiated an aggressive pubwic rewations campaign from 1994 to 1999 in an effort to exaggerate de appearance of grassroots support for smoker's rights. According to an articwe in de Journaw of Heawf Communication, de NSA had mixed success at defeating biwws dat were damaging revenues of tobacco interests.
Emaiw, automated phone cawws, form wetters, and de Internet made astroturfing more economicaw and prowific in de wate 1990s. In 2001, as Microsoft was defending itsewf against an antitrust wawsuit, Americans for Technowogy Leadership (ATL), a group heaviwy funded by Microsoft, initiated a wetter-writing campaign, uh-hah-hah-hah. ATL contacted constituents under de guise of conducting a poww and sent pro-Microsoft consumers form and sampwe wetters to send to invowved wawmakers. The effort was designed to make it appear as dough dere was pubwic support for a sympadetic ruwing in de antitrust wawsuit.
In January 2018, YouTube user Isaac Protiva upwoaded a video awweging dat internet service provider Fidewity Communications was behind an initiative cawwed "Stop City-Funded Internet," based on how some images on de Stop City-Funded Internet website had "Fidewity" in deir fiwe names. The campaign appeared to be in response to de city of West Pwains expanding deir broadband network, and advocated for de end of municipaw broadband on de basis dat it was too risky. Days water, Fidewity reweased a wetter admitting to sponsoring de campaign, uh-hah-hah-hah.
In 2009–2010, an Indiana University research study devewoped a software system to detect astroturfing on Twitter due to de sensitivity of de topic in de run up to de 2010 U.S. midterm ewections and account suspensions on de sociaw media pwatform. The study cited a wimited number of exampwes, aww promoting conservative powicies and candidates.
In 2003, GOPTeamLeader.com offered de site's users "points" dat couwd be redeemed for products if dey signed a form wetter promoting George Bush and got a wocaw paper to pubwish it as a wetter to de editor. More dan 100 newspapers pubwished an identicaw wetter to de editor from de site wif different signatures on it. Simiwar campaigns were used by GeorgeWBush.com, and by MoveOn, uh-hah-hah-hah.org to promote Michaew Moore's fiwm Fahrenheit 9/11. The Committee for a Responsibwe Federaw Budget's "Fix de Debt" campaign advocated to reduce government debt widout discwosing dat its members were wobbyists or high-ranking empwoyees at corporations dat aim to reduce federaw spending. It awso sent op-eds to various students dat were pubwished as-is.
Many organizations in de Tea Party movement are astroturfed, wif direct connections to right-wing dink tanks and wobbying organizations, and deir activities controwwed by weawdy supporters or de GOP.
The Peopwe's Vote campaign was cwaimed by Richard Seymore in Vice as being an exampwe of astroturfing. In de articwe, he accused de Peopwe's Vote campaign of being backed by warge amounts of money and infwuentiaw figures, noting de invowvement of peopwe such as "Tony Bwair, Michaew Hesewtine and Nick Cwegg. Such down-to-earf ordinary fowk as Dewia Smif, Steve Coogan and Bob Gewdof. Tracy Uwwman, Eddie Marsan and Deborah Meaden. Not to mention, Powwy Toynbee, and Chuka Umunna." Simiwar accusations were made in an RT articwe.
Corporate efforts to mobiwize de pubwic against environmentaw reguwation accewerated in de US fowwowing de ewection of president Barack Obama.
In 2014, de Toronto Sun conservative media organization has pubwished an articwe accusing Russia of using astroturf tactics to drum up anti-fracking sentiment across Europe and de West, supposedwy in order to maintain dominance in oiw exports drough Ukraine.
In Canada, a coawition of oiw and gas company executives grouped under de Canadian Association of Petroweum Producers (CAPP) awso initiated a series of Canadian actions to advocate for de oiw and gas industry in Canada drough mainstream and sociaw media, and using onwine campaigning to generate pubwic support for fossiw fuew energy projects. As an exampwe of such astroturf movements, de "Canada Action" organization was registered in 2012 by a reawtor from Cawgary, Awberta, who has said pubwicwy dat he financed Canada Action wif his own money but has refused to say if de organization has received industry or powiticaw funds.
In 2006, two Edewman empwoyees created a bwog cawwed "Waw-Marting Across America" about two peopwe travewing to Waw-Marts across de country. The bwog gave de appearance of being operated by spontaneous consumers, but was actuawwy operated on behawf of Working Famiwies for Wawmart, a group funded by Waw-Mart. In 2007, Ask.com depwoyed an anti-Googwe advertising campaign portraying Googwe as an "information monopowy" dat was damaging de Internet. The ad was designed to give de appearance of a popuwar movement and did not discwose it was funded by a competitor.
In 2010, de Federaw Trade Commission settwed a compwaint wif Reverb Communications, who was using interns to post favorabwe product reviews in Appwe's iTunes store for cwients. In September 2012, one of de first major identified case of astroturfing in Finwand invowved criticisms about de cost of a €1.8 biwwion patient information system, which was defended by fake onwine identities operated by invowved vendors.
In September 2013, New York Attorney Generaw Eric T. Schneiderman announced a settwement wif 19 companies to prevent astroturfing. "'Astroturfing' is de 21st century's version of fawse advertising, and prosecutors have many toows at deir disposaw to put an end to it," said Scheiderman, uh-hah-hah-hah. The companies paid $350,000 to settwe de matter, but de settwement opened de way for private suits as weww. "Every state has some version of de statutes New York used," according to wawyer Kewwy H. Kowb. "What de New York attorney generaw has done is, perhaps, to have given private wawyers a road map to fiwe suit."
An Aw Jazeera four part mini-series documented Israew's attempt to promote more friendwy, pro-Israew rhetoric to infwuence de attitudes of British youf, namewy drough infwuencing awready estabwished powiticaw bodies, such as de Nationaw Union of Students and de Labour Party, or drough de creation of oder bodies not directwy affiwiated wif de Israewi administration.
In 2008, an expert on Chinese affairs, Rebecca MacKinnon, estimated de country empwoyed 280,000 in a government-sponsored astroturfing operation to post pro-China propaganda and drown out voices of dissent.
In June 2010, de United States Air Force sowicited for "persona management" software dat wouwd "enabwe an operator to exercise a number of different onwine persons from de same workstation and widout fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries. Personas must be abwe to appear to originate in nearwy any part of de worwd and can interact drough conventionaw onwine services and sociaw media pwatforms..." The $2.6 miwwion contract was awarded to Ntrepid Corporation for astroturfing software de miwitary wouwd use to spread pro-American propaganda in de Middwe East, and disrupt extremist propaganda and recruitment.
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