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Chinese Government Suspected of Unleashing Astroturfers Against Apple

Posted by samzenpus on from the bad-for-business dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A piece attacking Apple's treatment of Chinese consumers that aired on official government TV last week was followed by a wave of anti-Apple posts on Weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter) by Chinese celebrities. On the China-watching site Tea Leaf Nation, Liz Carter reports that sharp-eyed Weibo users noticed something funny about one such post from an actor and singer named Peter Ho: 'Cannot believe Apple is playing so many dirty tricks in customer service. As an Apple fan, I feel hurt...Need to post around 8:20 pm.' What was this 'need to post at 8:20 pm' business? After Weibo lit up with sarcastic tags such as #PostAround820, Ho claimed (rather unconvincingly) that someone must have hacked his account and posted the anti-Apple 'Weibo'. Mike Elgan at CultOfMac notes a parallel with the Chinese government's rough handling of Google in 2009, which led to Google's closing of its mainland operations. Google claimed that government commissioned hackers had apparently stolen search engine source code, Gmail messages and other user data. An earlier article by Elgan on Datamation notes the uneasy business relationship between Apple and China."

5 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Why government? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A lot of Chinese companies are real s**ts, and a lot of Chinese companies make their own Android handsets.

    IMHO, follow the money. It will be paid for troll turf from one of the China handset makers.

    Also why do you think the Chinese government is some sort of magic all seeing, all acting entity? Realistically they want to project that image, but part of the reason China is such a wild west is because the Chinese government is so corrupt and no-seeing.

    That's why companies like this don't fear smear tactics. Because they can always pay a bribe and walk away.

    1. Re:Why government? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Also why do you think the Chinese government is some sort of magic all seeing, all acting entity?

      There is a perception that the Chinese government is a monolithic entity, with unity of purpose. This is not at all the case. Because the communist party has a monopoly on political power, everyone with ambition has to be in it. So the CCP includes people of every ideological hue, from hardcore Marxists to free market libertarians. These people often work in the same departments. Many Chinese government agencies are run by committee, rather than having a single person in charge, which results in muddled policies as factions maneuver to obstruct each other.

      I spent several years working in Shanghai, and found that the same is true in most Chinese businesses. The amount of office politics, infighting and backstabbing is probably an order of magnitude worse than anything I have experienced in the US.

    2. Re:Why government? by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      IMHO, follow the money.

      I'd say it's even simpler than that. A classic method of deflecting criticism is to set up an external boogeyman. People are starting to demand employment rights from the government. The government could change, or they could set up some big, bad, foreign companies to take the rap.

      The only surprise is that they didn't choose a Japanese corporation. Oh, wait, they did...

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. Reminds me of a story by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Back before e-mail, someone wrote a letter to the offices of some company, complaining about their product or service. A few days later, he received a nicely worded apologetic letter. Attached to the letter was the post-it note, written by the recipient in the company which read, "Send this son-of-a-bitch our standard apology form letter."

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Sick of this 'got hacked' nonsense. by Gadget27 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This has to be the third or fourth story I read in recent weeks where someone made a post or tweet that was either inappropriately worded, or outright incorrect for its purpose, as this one looks to be. In all these cases, the account owners shrug it off as their account being hacked, as if it's something so common it happens to all of us weekly, in order to cover their ass.
    It seems 'my account got hacked' is quickly becoming the 21st century 'my dog ate my homework' bullshit excuse. Let's just be sure not to forget the 'bullshit' part of that.