Astroturfing

File:Green_(astroturf)_-_Flickr_-_jakerome.jpg, which inspired the name "astroturfing" for creating a false impression of grassroots support]]

In political science, it is defined as the process of seeking electoral victory or legislative relief for grievances by helping political actors find and mobilize a sympathetic public, and is designed to create the image of public consensus where there is none.{{cite journal|last1=Howard|first1=Philip N.|s2cid=145413399|title=Digitizing the Social Contract: Producing American Political Culture in the Age of New Media|journal=The Communication Review|volume=6|issue=3|year=2003|pages=213–45|doi=10.1080/10714420390226270|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:aa941d37-ed92-4077-9bfe-f5cfe5ecc49c|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=November 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116103733/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:aa941d37-ed92-4077-9bfe-f5cfe5ecc49c|url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Howard |first=Philip |date=2005 |title=New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen |url=https://archive.org/details/newmediacampaign0000howa/page/93 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newmediacampaign0000howa/page/93 93, 144] |isbn=9780521612272 }} Astroturfing is the use of fake grassroots efforts that primarily focus on influencing public opinion and typically are funded by corporations and political entities to form opinions.{{cite journal|last1=Cho|first1=Charles H.|last2=Martens|first2=Martin L.|last3=Kim|first3=Hakkyun|last4=Rodrigue|first4=Michelle|title=Astroturfing Global Warming: It Isn't Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence|journal=Journal of Business Ethics|volume=104|issue=4|year=2011|pages=571–587|issn=0167-4544|doi=10.1007/s10551-011-0950-6|s2cid=154213597}}

On the internet, astroturfers use software to hide their identity. Sometimes one individual operates through many personas to give the impression of widespread support for their client's agenda.{{cite web |first=Cory |last=Doctorow |url=http://boingboing.net/2011/02/18/hbgarys-high-volume.html |title=HBGary's high-volume astroturfing technology and the Feds who requested it |work=boingboing |date=February 18, 2011 |access-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-date=July 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717135242/http://boingboing.net/2011/02/18/hbgarys-high-volume.html |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |first=Peter |last=Ludlow |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown%23axzz2X9RMrDLN |title=The Strange Case of Barrett Brown |magazine=The Nation |date=June 18, 2013 |access-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-date=June 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627181822/http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett-brown%23axzz2X9RMrDLN |url-status=live }} Some studies suggest astroturfing can alter public viewpoints and create enough doubt to inhibit action.{{Cite journal| doi=10.1111/j.1430-9134.2004.00023.x| title=Astroturf: Interest Group Lobbying and Corporate Strategy| journal=Journal of Economics & Management Strategy| volume=13| issue=4| pages=561–597| year=2004| last1=Lyon| first1=Thomas P.| last2=Maxwell| first2=John W.| hdl=2027.42/74741| s2cid=44209882| url=http://kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/RePEc/iuk/wpaper/bepp2004-18-lyon-maxwell.pdf| access-date=July 12, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811071818/https://kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/RePEc/iuk/wpaper/bepp2004-18-lyon-maxwell.pdf| archive-date=August 11, 2017| url-status=dead| hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/1940161219872942| title=Perceived Popularity and Online Political Dissent: Evidence from Twitter in Venezuela| journal=International Journal of Press/Politics| pages=5–27| year=2020| last1=Morales| first1=Juan S.| volume=25| s2cid=203053725| doi-access=free}} In the first systematic study of astroturfing in the United States, Oxford Professor Philip N. Howard argued that the internet was making it much easier for powerful lobbyists and political movements to activate small groups of aggrieved citizens to have an exaggerated importance in public policy debates. Astroturfed accounts on social media do not always require humans to write their posts; one January 2021 study detailed a "set of human-looking bot accounts" used to post political content, which was able to operate automatically for fourteen days (and make 1,586 posts) before being detected and suspended by Twitter.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445642|chapter=Perverse Downstream Consequences of Debunking: Being Corrected by Another User for Posting False Political News Increases Subsequent Sharing of Low Quality, Partisan, and Toxic Content in a Twitter Field Experiment|first1=Mohsen|last1=Mosleh|first2=Cameron|last2=Martel|first3=Dean|last3=Eckles|first4=David|last4=Rand|title=Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems|date=May 6, 2021|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|pages=1–13|via=ACM Digital Library|doi=10.1145/3411764.3445642|isbn=9781450380966|s2cid=233987905}} Twitter trends are often targeted by astroturfing as they are used as a proxy for popularity. A study conducted by researchers at EPFL reported that 20% of the global Twitter trends in 2019 were fake, created automatically using fake and compromised accounts which tweet in a coordinated way to mimic grassroots organizing of regular Twitter users.{{cite journal |last1=Elmas |first1=Tuğrulcan |last2 = Overdorf|first2 = Rebekah|last3=Özkalay|first3=Ahmed Furkan|last4=Aberer|first4=Karl |date=2021 |title=Ephemeral Astroturfing Attacks: The Case of Fake Twitter Trends |journal= 6th IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy |location= Virtual| publisher = IEEE |arxiv=1910.07783 }}

Many countries have laws that prohibit more overt astroturfing practices.{{cite journal|last1=Malbon|first1=Justin|title=Taking Fake Online Consumer Reviews Seriously|journal=Journal of Consumer Policy|volume=36|issue=2|year=2013|pages=139–157|issn=0168-7034|doi=10.1007/s10603-012-9216-7|s2cid=153986049}} In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may send cease-and-desist orders or require a fine of $16,000 per day for those that violate its "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".{{cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-publishes-final-guides-governing-endorsements-testimonials/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf|title=Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|access-date=June 20, 2014|archive-date=June 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609090435/http://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-publishes-final-guides-governing-endorsements-testimonials/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf|url-status=live}} The FTC's guides were updated in 2009 to address social media and word-of-mouth marketing.{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/08/pr-firm-settles-with-ftc-over-alleged-app-store-astroturfing/|website=Ars Technica|title=PR firm settles with FTC over alleged App Store astroturfing|first=Chris|last=Foresman|date=August 27, 2010|access-date=2012-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027070840/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/08/pr-firm-settles-with-ftc-over-alleged-app-store-astroturfing/|archive-date=October 27, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|publisher=Giga Om|url=http://gigaom.com/2012/04/26/the-ethics-of-astro-turfing-sleazy-or-smart-business/|first=Jeff|last=Roberts|date=April 26, 2012|access-date=June 20, 2014|title=The ethics of astro-turfing: sleazy or smart business?|archive-date=November 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121092120/https://gigaom.com/2012/04/26/the-ethics-of-astro-turfing-sleazy-or-smart-business/|url-status=live}} According to an article in the Journal of Consumer Policy, the FTC's guides holds advertisers responsible for ensuring bloggers or product endorsers comply with the guides, and any product endorsers with a material connection are required to provide honest reviews.

In the European Union, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive requires that paid-for editorial content in the media provide a clear disclosure that the content is a sponsored advertisement. Additionally, it prohibits those with a material connection from misleading readers into thinking they are a regular consumer.

The United Kingdom has the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations,{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/08/eu_consumer_protection_laws/|title=EU rolls out out astroturf guide for consumer laws|website=The Register|date=2009-12-08|access-date=November 10, 2012|archive-date=November 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118221554/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/08/eu_consumer_protection_laws/|url-status=live}} which prohibits "Falsely representing oneself as a consumer." They allow for up to two years in prison and unlimited fines for breaches. Additionally, the advertising industry in the UK has adopted many voluntary policies, such as the Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising, Sale, Promotion and Direct Marketing. A trade association, the Advertising Standards Authority, investigates complaints of breaches. The policy requires that marketing professionals not mislead their audience, including by omitting a disclosure of their material connection.

In Australia, astroturfing is regulated by Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, which broadly prohibits "misleading and deceptive conduct". According to the Journal of Consumer Policy, Australia's laws, which were introduced in 1975, are more vague. In most cases, they are enforced through lawsuits from competitors, rather than the regulatory body, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. There is also an International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).

Legal regulations are primarily targeted towards testimonials, endorsements and statements as to the performance or quality of a product. Employees of an organization may be considered acting as customers if their actions are not guided by authority within the company.

In October 2018, after denying that they had paid for people to show up in support of a controversial power plant development project in New Orleans, Entergy was fined five million dollars for using astroturf firm The Hawthorn Group to provide actors to prevent real community members' voices from being counted at city council meetings and show false grassroots support.Mazza, Juliana (October 30, 2018). "[https://www.wdsu.com/article/independent-report-on-entergy-paid-actors-scandal-released/24418971 Report: Entergy Knew It Was Paying for Actors at Not 1, but 2 Meetings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031230042/https://www.wdsu.com/article/independent-report-on-entergy-paid-actors-scandal-released/24418971 |date=October 31, 2018 }}." WDSU. Retrieved from WDSU.com, February 3, 2019.

In the book Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy, Edward Walker defines "astroturfing" as public participation that is perceived as heavily incented, as fraudulent (claims are attributed to those who did not make such statements), or as an elite campaign masquerading as a mass movement.{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Edward |date=2014 |title=Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/grassroots-hire-public-affairs-consultants-american-democracy?format=PB |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=33 |isbn=9781107619012 |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=April 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416094943/http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/grassroots-hire-public-affairs-consultants-american-democracy?format=PB |url-status=live }} Although not all campaigns by professional grassroots lobbying consultants meet this definition, the book finds that the elite-sponsored grassroots campaigns often fail when they are not transparent about their sources of sponsorship and/or fail to develop partnerships with constituencies that have an independent interest in the issue. Walker highlights the case of Working Families for Wal-Mart, in which the campaign's lack of transparency led to its demise.

A study published in the Journal of Business Ethics examined the effects of websites operated by front groups on students. It found that astroturfing was effective at creating uncertainty and lowering trust about claims, thereby changing perceptions that tend to favor the business interests behind the astroturfing effort. The New York Times reported that "consumer" reviews are more effective, because "they purport to be testimonials of real people, even though some are bought and sold just like everything else on the commercial Internet." Some organizations feel that their business is threatened by negative comments, so they may engage in astroturfing to drown them out. Online comments from astroturfing employees can also sway the discussion through the influence of groupthink.

Some astroturfing operatives defend their practice.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26312.html|title=The Summer of Astroturf|date=August 21, 2009|publisher=Politico|author=Ben Smith|author-link=Ben Smith (journalist)|access-date=August 28, 2009|archive-date=August 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823055642/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26312.html|url-status=live}} Regarding "movements that have organized aggressively to exaggerate their sway", author Ryan Sager said that this "isn't cheating. Doing everything in your power to get your people to show up is basic politics."{{Cite news |work=The New York Times |title=Keep Off the Astroturf |access-date=2009-08-26 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19sager.html |url-access=subscription |first=Ryan |last=Sanger |date=August 19, 2009 |archive-date=December 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225065118/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19sager.html |url-status=live }} According to a Porter/Novelli executive, "There will be times when the position you advocate, no matter how well framed and supported, will not be accepted by the public simply because you are who you are."{{Cite journal | last = Beder | first = Sharon | title = Public Relations' Role in Manufacturing Artificial Grass Roots Coalitions | journal = Public Relations Quarterly | volume = 43 | issue = 2 | pages = 21–3 | date = Summer 1998 | url = http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/PR.html | access-date = April 23, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150718034934/http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/PR.html | archive-date = July 18, 2015 | url-status = dead }}

Groups like FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity assert that providing organizational structure and support to grassroots movements is essential for effective advocacy. They argue that the concept of grassroots movements being entirely spontaneous is unrealistic and that some level of organization is necessary to amplify voices and mobilize supporters effectively. These groups claim that their activities are legitimate and that they are simply providing the necessary backbone for authentic activism.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Ben |date=2009-08-21 |title=The summer of Astroturf |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/08/the-summer-of-astroturf-026312 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Politico |language=en}}

Data-mining expert Bing Liu (University of Illinois Chicago) estimated that one-third of all consumer reviews on the Internet are fake. According to The New York Times, this has made it hard to tell the difference between "popular sentiment" and "manufactured public opinion".{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/bonner-associates-the-lon_b_269976.html|title=Bonner & Associates: The Long and Undemocratic History of Astroturfing|first=Kevin|last=Grandia|work=Huffington Post|date=August 26, 2009|access-date=November 7, 2012|archive-date=August 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830113515/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/bonner-associates-the-lon_b_269976.html|url-status=live}} According to an article in the Journal of Business Ethics, astroturfing threatens the legitimacy of genuine grassroots movements. The authors argued that astroturfing that is "purposefully designed to fulfill corporate agendas, manipulate public opinion and harm scientific research represents a serious lapse in ethical conduct." A 2011 report found that often paid posters from competing companies are attacking each other in forums and overwhelming regular participants in the process.{{cite arXiv

| author = Cheng Chen

| author2 = Kui Wu

| author3 = Venkatesh Srinivasan

| author4 = Xudong Zhang

| title = Battling the Internet Water Army: Detection of Hidden Paid Posters

| date = November 18, 2011

| eprint = 1111.4297| class = cs.SI

}} George Monbiot said that persona-management software supporting astroturfing "could destroy the Internet as a forum for constructive debate". An article in the Journal of Consumer Policy said that regulators and policy makers needed to be more aggressive about astroturfing. The author said that it undermines the public's ability to inform potential customers of sub-standard products or inappropriate business practices, but also noted that fake reviews were difficult to detect.

{{Cite journal |last=Chan |first=Jovy |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Online astroturfing: A problem beyond disinformation |journal=Philosophy & Social Criticism |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=507–528 |doi=10.1177/01914537221108467|quote=Astroturfing is not exclusive to the online environment. It also happens in real life when actors are paid to attend protests, sign petitions or crash town hall meetings. Classic astroturfing, as the name suggests2, refers to fake grassroots activism. It involves corporations or political parties using hired agents to create the impression that a view they wish to promote has widespread public support...With the rise of the internet, astroturfing practices increased exponentially. |issn=0191-4537|doi-access=free }}

Use of one or more front groups is one astroturfing technique. These groups typically present themselves as serving the public interest, while actually working on behalf of a corporate or political sponsor.{{cite news

| last =Monbiot

| first =George

| title =The denial industry

| newspaper =The Guardian

| date =September 18, 2006

| url =https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/sep/19/ethicalliving.g2?INTCMP=SRCH

| access-date =September 14, 2012

| location =London

| archive-date =April 28, 2012

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120428150821/http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2006/sep/19/ethicalliving.g2?INTCMP=SRCH

| url-status =live

}} Front groups may resist legislation and scientific consensus that is damaging to the sponsor's business by emphasizing minority viewpoints, instilling doubt and publishing counterclaims by corporate-sponsored experts. Fake blogs can also be created that appear to be written by consumers, while actually being operated by a commercial or political interest.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7287413.stm|first=Robert|last=Plummer|work=BBC News|title=Will fake business blogs crash and burn?|access-date=November 7, 2012|date=May 22, 2008|archive-date=September 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920084029/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7287413.stm|url-status=live}} Some political movements have provided incentives for members of the public to send a letter to the editor at their local paper, often using a copy and paste form letter that is published in dozens of newspapers verbatim. Mass letters may be printed on personalized stationery using different typefaces, colors and words to make them appear personal.

Another technique is the use of sockpuppets, where a single person creates multiple identities online to give the appearance of grassroots support. Sockpuppets may post positive reviews about a product, attack participants that criticize the organization, or post negative reviews and comments about competitors, under fake identities."Company Settles With State Attorney General Over Fake Online Customer Reviews." Computer & Internet Lawyer 26.10 (2009): 32. Computers & Applied Sciences Complete. Web. 11 November 2012.{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Good and bad reviews: The ethical debate over 'astroturfing'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media-tech-law/astroturfing-posting-fake-reviews|date=January 9, 2011|access-date=November 17, 2012|location=London|archive-date=June 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629195425/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-tech-law/astroturfing-posting-fake-reviews|url-status=live}} Astroturfing businesses may pay staff based on the number of posts they make that are not flagged by moderators. Persona management software may be used so that each paid poster can manage five to seventy convincing online personas without getting them confused.{{cite news

| last =Friel

| first =Alan

| title =FTC's New Endorsement Guides Call for Policies and Procedures

| publisher =Wildman Harrold

| date =October 2009

}} Online astroturfing using sockpuppets is a form of Sybil attack against distributed systems.

Pharmaceutical companies may sponsor patient support groups and simultaneously push them to help market their products.{{cite journal | year = 2007 | title = Astroturfing | journal = New Scientist | volume = 193 | issue = 2590| page = 48 | doi=10.1016/s0262-4079(07)60361-3}} Bloggers who receive free products, paid travel or other accommodations may also be considered astroturfing if those gifts are not disclosed to the reader.{{cite news|title='Organic' SXSW Blogger Buzz? More Like Marketing Astroturf|newspaper=Ad Age|url=http://adage.com/article/digital/marketers-hoping-sxsw-buzz-shell-junkets-bloggers/149042/|date=February 24, 2011|first=Irina|last=Slutsky|access-date=November 9, 2012|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004225220/http://adage.com/article/digital/marketers-hoping-sxsw-buzz-shell-junkets-bloggers/149042/|url-status=live}} Analysts could be considered astroturfing, since they often cover their own clients without disclosing their financial connection. To avoid astroturfing, many organizations and press have policies about gifts, accommodations and disclosures.{{cite news

| last =Roberts

| first =Jeff

| title =The ethics of astro-turfing

| publisher =PaidContent

| date =April 26, 2012

| url =http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/26/the-ethics-of-astro-turfing-sleazy-or-smart-business/

| access-date =September 10, 2012

| archive-date =April 26, 2012

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120426135123/http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/26/the-ethics-of-astro-turfing-sleazy-or-smart-business/

| url-status =live

}}

Persona management software can age accounts and simulate the activity of attending a conference automatically to make it more convincing that they are genuine.{{cite news |last=Rockefeller |first=Happy |date=February 16, 2011 |title=Updated: The HB Gary Email That Should Concern Us All |url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/16/945768/-UPDATED-The-HB-Gary-Email-That-Should-Concern-Us-All |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221215504/http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/16/945768/-UPDATED-The-HB-Gary-Email-That-Should-Concern-Us-All |archive-date=February 21, 2012 |access-date=November 13, 2012 |publisher=Daily Kos}} At HBGary, employees were given separate thumb drives that contain online accounts for individual identities and visual cues to remind the employee which identity they are using at the time.

{{Update section|date=February 2025|reason=example from 2010}}

According to an article in The New York Times, the Federal Trade Commission rarely enforces its astroturfing laws. Operations are frequently detected if their profile images are recognized or if they are identified through the usage patterns of their accounts. Filippo Menczer's group at Indiana University developed software in 2010 that detects astroturfing on Twitter by recognizing behavioral patterns.{{Cite conference

|last1=Ratkiewicz |first1=Jacob |last2=Conover |first2=Michael |last3=Meiss |first3=Mark |last4=Gonçalves |first4=Bruno |author5=Snehal Patil |author6=Alessandro Flammini |author7=Filippo Menczer |title=Truthy: mapping the spread of astroturf in microblog streams |book-title=Proceedings of the 20th international conference companion on World wide web |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=249–252 |location=New York, NY, USA |year=2011 |url=http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1963301 |isbn = 978-1-4503-0637-9 |doi = 10.1145/1963192.1963301 |access-date=April 25, 2011|arxiv=1011.3768 }}{{Cite conference | last1 = Ratkiewicz|first1=Jacob|last2=Conover|first2=Michael|last3=Meiss|first3=Mark|last4=Gonçalves|first4=Bruno |author5=Alessandro Flammini |author6=Filippo Menczer |title=Detecting and Tracking the Spread of Astroturf Memes in Microblog Streams|date=Nov 16, 2010|arxiv=1011.3768 |doi=10.1145/1963192.1963301 |book-title=Proceedings of the 20th International Conference Companion on World Wide Web |pages=249|isbn=9781450306379}}{{Cite conference|last1=Ratkiewicz|first1=Jacob|last2=Conover|first2=Michael|last3=Meiss|first3=Mark|last4=Gonçalves|first4=Bruno|author5=Snehal Patil|author6=Alessandro Flammini|author7=Filippo Menczer|title=Detecting and Tracking Political Abuse in Social Media|book-title=Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media|publisher=Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence|location=Menlo Park, CA, USA|date=July 17–21, 2011|url=http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM11/paper/view/2850/3274|format=PDF|isbn=978-1-57735-505-2|access-date=August 24, 2011|conference=|archive-date=May 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507061547/http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM11/paper/view/2850/3274|url-status=dead}} Researchers are exploring other techniques of detecting astroturfing including machine learning, linguistic analysis, and content analysis.

According to an article in the Journal of Consumer Policy, academics disagree on how prolific astroturfing is.

According to Nancy Clark from Precision Communications, grass-roots specialists charge $25 to $75 for each constituent they convince to send a letter to a politician. Paid online commentators in China are purportedly paid 50 cents for each online post that is not removed by moderators, leading to the nickname of the "50-cent party".{{cite news|title=China's internet 'spin doctors'|first=Michael|last=Bristow|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7783640.stm|work=BBC News|date=December 16, 2008|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=August 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807174949/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7783640.stm|url-status=live}} The New York Times reported that a business selling fake online book reviews charged $999 for 50 reviews and made $28,000 a month shortly after opening.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all&|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 25, 2012|title=The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy|first=David|last=Streitfeld|access-date=October 25, 2012|archive-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231112403/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all&|url-status=live}}

According to the Financial Times, astroturfing is "commonplace" in American politics, but was "revolutionary" in Europe when it was exposed that the European Privacy Association, an anti-privacy "think-tank", was actually sponsored by technology companies.{{cite news|title=Astroturfing takes root; Brussels|newspaper=Financial Times|date=June 27, 2013|first=James|last=Fontanella-Khan|url=https://www.ft.com/content/74271926-dd9f-11e2-a756-00144feab7de |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/74271926-dd9f-11e2-a756-00144feab7de |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}

Although the term "astroturfing" was not yet developed, an early example of the practice was in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. In the play, Gaius Cassius Longinus writes fake letters from "the public" to convince Brutus to assassinate Julius Caesar.

The term "astroturfing" was first coined in 1985 by Texas Democratic Party senator Lloyd Bentsen when he said, "a fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grass roots and AstroTurf... this is generated mail."Kolivos, Eugenia, and Anna Kuperman. "Web Of Lies – Legal Implications Of Astroturfing." Keeping Good Companies (14447614) 64.1 (2012): 38-41. Business Source Complete. Web. 10 November 2012.{{cite book|author=Rosemarie Ostler|title=Slinging Mud: Rude Nicknames, Scurrilous Slogans, and Insulting Slang from Two Centuries of American Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJFspOecgPUC&pg=PT141|access-date=9 November 2012|date=6 September 2011|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-1-101-54413-6|pages=141–}} Bentsen was describing a "mountain of cards and letters" sent to his office to promote insurance industry interests.{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media-tech-law/astroturfing-posting-fake-reviews|date=January 9, 2011|title=Good and bad reviews: The ethical debate over 'astroturfing'|access-date=November 18, 2012|first=Alex|last=Wade|location=London|archive-date=June 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629195425/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-tech-law/astroturfing-posting-fake-reviews|url-status=live}}

Patient advocacy groups funded by biopharmaceutical companies are common.{{cite web |title=This Is How Big Pharma Wins |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/this-is-how-big-pharma-wins.html |publisher=New York Magazine |access-date=March 15, 2023 |date=February 21, 2022 |quote=The funding and creation of front groups and astroturf “partnerships” is a ceaseless churn, with outfits activated and retired as needed...Some of these groups are easily identified as astroturf organizations, but industry cash and messaging are also laundered through established national organizations |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315005928/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/this-is-how-big-pharma-wins.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Kopp |first1=Emily |title=Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback? |url=https://khn.org/news/patient-advocacy-groups-take-in-millions-from-drugmakers-is-there-a-payback/ |work=Kaiser Health News |date=April 6, 2018}} In 1997, Schering Plough paid a P/R firm Schandwick International, to create a national coalition of patient advocacy groups promoting Schering's Rebotron, a treatment for Hepatitis C. The groups pushed increased testing as a way to manufacture cases and lobbied state legislatures to cover the $18,000 treatment. The groups also hosted telephone "information lines" with scripts written by the drug company and distributed "patient information" pamphlets promoting drug therapies over other alternatives and overstating the danger of the medical condition.{{cite news |last1=O'Harrow |first1=Robert |title=Grass Roots Seeded by Drugmaker |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/12/grass-roots-seeded-by-drugmaker/2b7b4e9b-8d77-4721-bd78-90d68939ad62/ |newspaper=Washington Post |quote=The drugmaker's campaign offers a vivid look at a public relations tactic gaining currency in corporate America: The use of "AstroTurf," or "grass-tops," groups posing as authentic local organizations to promote a product or political aim. |date=September 12, 2000 |access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828202847/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/12/grass-roots-seeded-by-drugmaker/2b7b4e9b-8d77-4721-bd78-90d68939ad62/ |url-status=live }} Manufacturers of AIDS drugs commonly fund LGBTQ organizations, which in turn, lobby to advance policies that increase AIDS drug sales. In 2019, the communications director of AIDS United, a Washington DC–based coalition of AIDS service organizations, resigned, stating such funding creates conflicts of interest among gay rights activists.{{cite news |last1=Chibbaro |first1=Lou |title=homepage news AIDS group official resigns over group's acceptance of drug company funds |url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019/08/27/aids-group-official-resigns-over-groups-acceptance-of-drug-company-funds/ |work=Washington Blade |date=August 27, 2019 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212022739/https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019/08/27/aids-group-official-resigns-over-groups-acceptance-of-drug-company-funds/ |url-status=live }}

In response to the passage of tobacco control legislation in the US, Philip Morris, Burson-Marsteller and other tobacco interests created the National Smokers Alliance (NSA) in 1993. The NSA and other tobacco interests initiated an aggressive public relations campaign from 1994 to 1999 in an effort to exaggerate the appearance of grassroots support for smoker's rights. According to an article in the Journal of Health Communication, the NSA had mixed success at defeating bills that were damaging revenues of tobacco interests.{{cite journal|last1=Givel|first1=Michael|title=Consent and Counter-Mobilization: The Case of The National Smokers Alliance|journal=Journal of Health Communication|volume=12|issue=4|year=2007|pages=339–357|issn=1081-0730|doi=10.1080/10810730701326002|pmid=17558787|s2cid=20124171}}

Email, automated phone calls, form letters, and the Internet made astroturfing more economical and prolific in the late 1990s.{{Cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/feb/23/need-to-protect-internet-from-astroturfing | title = The need to protect the internet from 'astroturfing' grows ever more urgent | first = George | last = Monbiot | date = February 24, 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian | location = London, UK | access-date = February 24, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110223122306/http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/feb/23/need-to-protect-internet-from-astroturfing| archive-date= February 23, 2011 | url-status= live}} The internet in particular has made astroturfing cheaper, more widespread, and harder to detect.{{Cite journal |last=Chan |first=Jovy |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Online astroturfing: A problem beyond disinformation |journal=Philosophy & Social Criticism |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=507–528 |doi=10.1177/01914537221108467|quote=Astroturfing is not exclusive to the online environment. It also happens in real life when actors are paid to attend protests, sign petitions or crash town hall meetings. Classic astroturfing, as the name suggests2, refers to fake grassroots activism. It involves corporations or political parties using hired agents to create the impression that a view they wish to promote has widespread public support...With the rise of the internet, astroturfing practices increased exponentially. |issn=0191-4537|doi-access=free }}

In 2001, as Microsoft was defending itself against an antitrust lawsuit, Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), a group heavily funded by Microsoft, initiated a letter-writing campaign. ATL contacted constituents under the guise of conducting a poll and sent pro-Microsoft consumers form and sample letters to send to involved lawmakers. The effort was designed to make it appear as though there was public support for a sympathetic ruling in the antitrust lawsuit.{{cite news|newspaper=The LA Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-23-mn-37472-story.html|title=Lobbyists Tied to Microsoft Wrote Citizens' Letters|date=August 23, 2001|first=Joseph|last=Menn|author2=Edmund Sanders|access-date=November 19, 2012|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220414/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/23/news/mn-37472|url-status=live}}{{cite news|publisher=Associated Press|title=Report: Microsoft funded 'grass roots' campaign|access-date=November 19, 2012|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-23-mn-37472-story.html|date=August 21, 2001|first1=Joseph|last1=Menn|first2=Edmund|last2=Sanders|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220414/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/23/news/mn-37472|url-status=live}}

In January 2018, YouTube user Isaac Protiva uploaded a video alleging that internet service provider Fidelity Communications was behind an initiative called "Stop City-Funded Internet", based on how some images on the Stop City-Funded Internet website had "Fidelity" in their file names.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/kcDPOvFdUcE Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180209045315/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDPOvFdUcE Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media |people=Isaac Protiva |date=January 31, 2018 |title=Proof that Fidelity Communications is behind the Stop City Funded Internet campaign |medium=Video |language=en|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDPOvFdUcE|access-date=March 10, 2018}}{{cbignore}} The campaign appeared to be in response to the city of West Plains expanding their broadband network, and advocated for the end of municipal broadband on the basis that it was too risky.{{cite web|title=Stop City-Funded Internet |access-date=March 10, 2018|url=https://stopcityfundedinternet.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129214112/https://stopcityfundedinternet.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2018 }}{{cite news |publisher=Daily Kos |title=It turns out the Missouri grassroots "Stop City-Funded Internet" movement was a cable monopoly |access-date=March 10, 2018 |first1=Walter |last1=Einenkel |url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/8/1739859/-It-turns-out-the-Missouri-grassroots-Stop-City-Funded-Internet-movement-was-a-cable-monopoly |archive-date=July 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724160355/https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/8/1739859/-It-turns-out-the-Missouri-grassroots-Stop-City-Funded-Internet-movement-was-a-cable-monopoly |url-status=live }} Days later, Fidelity released a letter admitting to sponsoring the campaign.{{cite news|publisher=Daily Kos|title=It turns out the Missouri grassroots 'Stop City-Funded Internet' movement was a cable monopoly|access-date=March 10, 2018|url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/8/1739859/-It-turns-out-the-Missouri-grassroots-Stop-City-Funded-Internet-movement-was-a-cable-monopoly|date=February 8, 2018|first1=Walter|last1=Einenkel|archive-date=July 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724160355/https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/8/1739859/-It-turns-out-the-Missouri-grassroots-Stop-City-Funded-Internet-movement-was-a-cable-monopoly|url-status=live}}

In 2009–2010, an Indiana University research study developed a software system to detect astroturfing on Twitter due to the sensitivity of the topic in the run up to the 2010 U.S. midterm elections and account suspensions on the social media platform. The study cited a limited number of examples, all promoting conservative policies and candidates.

In 2003, GOPTeamLeader.com offered the site's users "points" that could be redeemed for products if they signed a form letter promoting George Bush and got a local paper to publish it as a letter to the editor. More than 100 newspapers published an identical letter to the editor from the site with different signatures on it. Similar campaigns were used by GeorgeWBush.com, and by MoveOn.org to promote Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11.{{cite web|url=http://ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1093396596.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040912080607/http://ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1093396596.php |archive-date=September 12, 2004 |title=Online Journalism Review; August 24, 2004 |date=12 September 2004 |access-date=2011-08-01}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124939676158504833|title=White House Brushes Off Health-Care Protests|last=Pulizzi|first=Henry J.|date=2009-08-05|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2019-04-25|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621152803/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124939676158504833|url-status=live}} The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's "Fix the Debt" campaign advocated to reduce government debt without disclosing that its members were lobbyists or high-ranking employees at corporations that aim to reduce federal spending.{{cite news|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/billionaire-peterson-sounds-alarm-on-deficit-20121126|date=November 26, 2012|title=Billionaire Peterson Sounds Alarm on Deficit|access-date=November 23, 2013|newspaper=National Journal|first=Nancy|last=Cook|archive-date=November 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130072450/http://nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/billionaire-peterson-sounds-alarm-on-deficit-20121126|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Public Goals, Private Interests in Debt Campaign|first=Nicholas|last=Confessore|date=January 9, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/us/politics/behind-debt-campaign-ties-to-corporate-interests.html|access-date=November 22, 2013|work=The New York Times|archive-date=April 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416022637/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/us/politics/behind-debt-campaign-ties-to-corporate-interests.html|url-status=live}} It also sent op-eds to various students that were published as-is.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gainesville.com/article/20131110/News/604157643|title=Using other people's words as your own|last=Crabbe|first=Nathan|website=Gainesville Sun|language=en|access-date=2019-04-25}}

Some organizations in the Tea Party movement have been accused of being astroturfed.{{cite book|author1=Nella Van Dyke|author2=David S. Meyer|title=Understanding the Tea Party Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQCgCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|date=February 24, 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-00457-8|page=41}}

In October and November 2018, conservative marketing firm Rally Forge created what The New Yorker described as "a phony left-wing front group, America Progress Now, which promoted Green Party candidates online in 2018, apparently to hurt Democrats in several races."{{Cite magazine

|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie

|title=The Big Money Behind the Big Lie

|last=Mayer

|first=Jane

|magazine=The New Yorker

|quote=Rally Forge also created a phony left-wing front group, America Progress Now, which promoted Green Party candidates online in 2018, apparently to hurt Democrats in several races.

|date=August 2, 2021

|access-date=September 20, 2021

|archive-date=August 2, 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802101814/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie

|url-status=live

}} Its ads on Facebook used socialist memes and slogans to attack Democrats and urge third-party protest voting in several tight races, including the 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Julia |title=Revealed: rightwing firm posed as leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/11/facebook-ads-turning-point-usa-rally-forge |quote=One [Facebook] product manager .. described it as 'a crystal clear example of astroturfing' – deceptive campaign tactics designed to appear as grassroots actions |access-date=26 September 2021 |work=The Guardian |location=San Francisco |date=11 June 2021 |archive-date=September 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927091657/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/11/facebook-ads-turning-point-usa-rally-forge |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=US&page_ids[0]=751228941880577&q=America%20Progress%20Now&search_type=keyword_unordered&media_type=all |title=Sample ads placed by "America Progress Now" |website=Facebook |access-date=March 13, 2024 |archive-date=November 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116102538/https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=US&page_ids%5B0%5D=751228941880577&q=America%20Progress%20Now&search_type=keyword_unordered&media_type=all |url-status=live }}

In 2018, a website called "Jexodus" claiming to be by "proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics" was set up by Jeff Ballabon, a Republican operative in his mid-50s. The website was denounced as "likely a clumsy astroturf effort rather than an actual grassroots movement".{{cite web|title=Republicans don't want to curb anti-Semitism; they want to weaponize it|work=Think Progress|url=https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-dont-want-to-curb-anti-semitism-they-want-to-weaponize-it-8ede92d54309/|author=Adam Peck|date=March 14, 2019|access-date=March 17, 2019|archive-date=March 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190317052946/https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-dont-want-to-curb-anti-semitism-they-want-to-weaponize-it-8ede92d54309/|url-status=live}}{{cite web |author1=Talia Lavin |title=Why the GOP Isn't Getting the Jewish Vote Anytime Soon |url=https://www.gq.com/story/gop-jexodus |website=GQ.com |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=March 24, 2019 |date=March 14, 2019 |quote=it’s an operation entirely engineered by conservative flacks, doing its best to masquerade as an authentic grassroots movement. |archive-date=March 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324184741/https://www.gq.com/story/gop-jexodus |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author1=Jack Holmes |title=Trump's Patrick Moore Tweet Is Fox News Regurgitation at Its Most Dangerous |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26795988/fox-news-greenpeace-founder-climate-change-fake-science-trump-tweet/ |publisher=Esquire |access-date=24 March 2019 |date=March 12, 2019 |archive-date=March 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324061045/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26795988/fox-news-greenpeace-founder-climate-change-fake-science-trump-tweet/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author1=Joshua Davidovich |title=Right of passage: 8 things to know for March 12 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-of-passage-8-things-to-know-for-march-12/ |access-date=24 March 2019 |publisher=The Times of Israel |date=12 March 2019 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327005253/https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-of-passage-8-things-to-know-for-march-12/ |url-status=live }} The website was registered November 5, 2018, before the congressional election, and before those representatives accused of antisemitism had even been voted in. This website was later cited by Donald Trump as though it were an authentic movement.

In January 2021, a team led by Mohsen Mosleh conducted a politically oriented astroturfing campaign on Twitter, using "a set of human-looking bot accounts"; each bot would search for users posting links the researchers considered to be fake news, and "tweet a public reply message to the user's tweet that contained the link to the false story". 1,586 spam replies were made over the course of fourteen days, until Twitter detected and suspended all of the bot accounts.

Astroturfing organizations have been used by the fossil fuel industry in their fight against climate action or to propagate climate change denial. These organizations typically use euphemistic names to disguise their sponsors and agendas and often target "green" organizations with which they can be confused. Examples for such fossil fuel funded Astroturfing organizations are the National Wetlands Coalition, the Global Climate Coalition, the Greening Earth Society, the Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy or the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy.Gilles Grolleau et al.: Changing the world with words? Euphemisms in climate change issues. Ecological Economics 193, 2022, {{DOI|10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107307}}

The Koch brothers started a public advocacy group to prevent the development of wind turbines offshore in Massachusetts. The Kennedy family was also involved.{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/01/anti_cape_wind_funder_blows_195m_osterville_estate|title=Anti-Cape Wind funder blows $19.5M on Osterville estate|author=Greg Turner|newspaper=Boston Herald|date=January 12, 2013|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109234701/http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/01/anti_cape_wind_funder_blows_195m_osterville_estate|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/09/21/koch-gordon-nantucket-biz_cz_td_06rich400_0921nantucket.html#76a0551e108a|title=Koch's New Fight|magazine=Forbes|author=Tim Doyle|date=Sep 21, 2006|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109235419/https://www.forbes.com/2006/09/21/koch-gordon-nantucket-biz_cz_td_06rich400_0921nantucket.html#76a0551e108a|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/05/28/19531-men-behind-those-anti-wind-farm-ads|title=The men behind those anti-wind farm ads|publisher=Cap Cod Today|author=Walter Brooks|date=May 28, 2013|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109235023/https://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/05/28/19531-men-behind-those-anti-wind-farm-ads|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/kennedys-kochs-help-kill-planned-wind-farm-off-cape-cod|title=Kennedys, Kochs help kill planned wind farm off Cape Cod|publisher=Fox News|date=December 4, 2017|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110040412/https://www.foxnews.com/us/kennedys-kochs-help-kill-planned-wind-farm-off-cape-cod|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/offshore-cape-wind-farm.html|title=After 16 Years, Hopes for Cape Cod Wind Farm Float Away|newspaper=New York Times|author=Katharine Q. Seelye|date=December 19, 2017|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109234610/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/offshore-cape-wind-farm.html|url-status=live}}

Corporate efforts to mobilize the public against environmental regulation accelerated in the US following the election of president Barack Obama.{{Cite journal|title=The Roots Of Astroturfing|journal=Contexts|volume=9|last=Lee|first=Caroline|date=Winter 2010|pages=73–75|language=en|issn=1536-5042|doi=10.1525/ctx.2010.9.1.73|doi-access=free}}

In 2014, the Toronto Sun conservative media organization has published an article accusing Russia of using astroturf tactics to drum up anti-fracking sentiment across Europe and the West, supposedly in order to maintain dominance in oil exports through Ukraine.{{Cite news|url=https://torontosun.com/2014/06/20/feds-weigh-in-on-allegations-russia-behind-anti-fracking-movement/wcm/325804b1-a68f-4363-a439-b24a98c195fc|title=Feds weigh in on allegations Russia behind anti-fracking movement|newspaper=Toronto Sun|last=Valiante|first=Giuseppe|date=2014-06-20|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-04-25|archive-date=March 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308042536/https://torontosun.com/2014/06/20/feds-weigh-in-on-allegations-russia-behind-anti-fracking-movement/wcm/325804b1-a68f-4363-a439-b24a98c195fc|url-status=live}}

Fossil fuel company Glencore enlisted the C|T Group to conduct a coordinated pro-coal campaign called "Project Caesar" from 2017 onwards. Drawing on an annual budget of between £4-7 million, it created what appeared to be grassroots social media pages and groups to promote anti-renewable messages.

In Canada, a coalition of oil and gas company executives grouped under the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers also initiated a series of Canadian actions to advocate for the oil and gas industry in Canada through mainstream and social media, and using online campaigning to generate public support for fossil fuel energy projects.{{Cite web|url=https://thenarwhal.ca/grassroots-canada-action-carries-deep-ties-conservative-party-oil-gas-industry/|title='Grassroots' Canada Action Carries Deep Ties to Conservative Party, Oil and Gas Industry|last1=Linnett|first1=Carol|last2=Gutstein|first2=Donald|date=July 22, 2015|website=The Narwhal|language=en|access-date=2019-04-25|archive-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617165114/https://thenarwhal.ca/grassroots-canada-action-carries-deep-ties-conservative-party-oil-gas-industry/|url-status=live}}

In 2006, two Edelman employees created a blog called "Wal-Marting Across America" about two people traveling to Wal-Marts across the country. The blog gave the appearance of being operated by spontaneous consumers, but was actually operated on behalf of Working Families for Walmart, a group funded by Wal-Mart.{{cite news |url= https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/20/news/companies/walmart_blogs/?postversion=2006102011 |title= PR firm admits it's behind Wal-Mart blogs |access-date= November 10, 2008 |date= October 20, 2006 |publisher= CNN |archive-date= January 24, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190124201351/https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/20/news/companies/walmart_blogs/?postversion=2006102011 |url-status= live }}Stoff, Rick. "Astroturf-Roots Campaign." St. Louis Journalism Review 36)2 (2006): 12-21. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 11 November 2012. In 2007, Ask.com deployed an anti-Google advertising campaign portraying Google as an "information monopoly" that was damaging the Internet. The ad was designed to give the appearance of a popular movement and did not disclose it was funded by a competitor.{{cite news|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117572581285960181|title=Ask.Com's 'Revolt' Risks Costly Clicks|first=Aaron|last=Patrick|date=April 5, 2007|access-date=November 18, 2012|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213014/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117572581285960181.html|url-status=live}}

In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission settled a complaint with Reverb Communications, who was using interns to post favorable product reviews in Apple's iTunes store for clients.{{cite news

| last =Gross

| first =Grant

| title =FTC settles complaint about fake video game testimonials

| work =Reuters

| date =Aug 26, 2010

| url =https://www.reuters.com/article/urnidgns852573c4006938808525778b0076fa-idUS108605030220100827

| access-date =September 25, 2012

| archive-date =December 7, 2015

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151207005549/http://www.reuters.com/article/urnidgns852573c4006938808525778b0076fa-idUS108605030220100827

| url-status =live

}} In September 2012, one of the first major identified cases of astroturfing in Finland involved criticisms about the cost of a €1.8 billion patient information system, which was defended by fake online identities operated by involved vendors.{{cite news |url=http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012091316072094_uu.shtml |title=Husin tietojärjestelmän puolustajaa arveltiin keksityksi |date=September 13, 2012 |access-date=November 18, 2012 |archive-date=September 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915044033/http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012091316072094_uu.shtml |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/389765 |title=Laitos-lehti: Keksitty henkilö kehuu Husin tietojärjestelmää |date=September 13, 2012 |access-date=November 18, 2012 |publisher=TS.fi |archive-date=October 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019233957/http://www.ts.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/389765/Laitoslehti+Keksitty+henkilo+kehuu+Husin+tietojarjestelmaa |url-status=live }}

In September 2013, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a settlement with 19 companies to prevent astroturfing. "'Astroturfing' is the 21st century's version of false advertising, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it," said Scheiderman. The companies paid $350,000 to settle the matter, but the settlement opened the way for private suits as well. "Every state has some version of the statutes New York used," according to lawyer Kelly H. Kolb. "What the New York attorney general has done is, perhaps, to have given private lawyers a road map to file suit."{{cite web |last=Brush |first=Pete |title=NY 'Astroturfing' Cases Mark Fertile Ground For Civil Suits |url=http://www.law360.com/articles/474773/ny-astroturfing-cases-mark-fertile-ground-for-civil-suits |work=Law360 |publisher=LexisNexis |access-date=February 20, 2014 |date=September 23, 2013 |archive-date=February 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224193055/http://www.law360.com/articles/474773/ny-astroturfing-cases-mark-fertile-ground-for-civil-suits |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=A.G. Schneiderman Announces Agreement With 19 Companies To Stop Writing Fake Online Reviews And Pay More Than $350,000 In Fines |url=http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-agreement-19-companies-stop-writing-fake-online-reviews-and |publisher=New York State Office of the Attorney General |access-date=February 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926163125/http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-agreement-19-companies-stop-writing-fake-online-reviews-and |archive-date=September 26, 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Moms for Liberty is an American political organization that is seen by some as an astroturfed movement, associated with the parental rights movement dedicated to “fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating, and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government” {{Cite web |title=Impact |url=https://www.momsforliberty.org/impact/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Moms for Liberty |language=en-US}}.  The Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized Moms For Liberty as an extremist “reactionary” and “conservative populist” organization. Founded on January 21, 2021, Moms For Liberty a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit.{{Cite news |title=Moms for Liberty among conservative groups named 'extremist' by civil rights watchdog |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180486760/splc-moms-for-liberty-extremist-group |access-date=2025-03-11 |work=NPR |language=en}} The group has ties to far-right conservative figures, politicians, and groups, most notably, Florida governor Ron DeSantis and The Proud Boys {{Cite web |last=Gilbert |first=David |date=2023-06-20 |title=Inside Moms for Liberty's Close Relationship With the Proud Boys |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/moms-for-liberty-proud-boys/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}

In 2023, DeSantis appointed Moms For Liberty founder Tina Descovich to the Florida State Commission on Ethics.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-06 |title=Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints Moms for Liberty co-founder to state Commission on Ethics |url=https://apnews.com/article/florida-ethics-commission-moms-for-liberty-descovich-d797cf6797333c31b682ad3fd94b2bce |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=AP News |language=en}} Critics have derided the group's perceived meteoritic rise to fame as evidence of astroturfing. GLADD notes that only one month after the group’s formation, despite advertising themselves as a grassroots movement, garnered significant media attention from right wing circles. On January 27, 2021, the group was featured on the Rush Limbaugh show and was covered by far-right news publication Breitbart the following month. Bridget Ziegler, one of the group's three founders, is also married to Christian Ziegler, the chair of the Florida GOP.{{Cite web |last=GLAAD |date=2022-07-01 |title=Moms for Liberty (M4L) {{!}} GLAAD |url=https://glaad.org/gap/moms-liberty/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=glaad.org |language=en-US}}

The group participates in coordinated efforts to remove books from school curricula, otherwise known as book banning and the “flipping” of school boards through elections to push their agenda, often funded and supported by far-right organizations such as the Cato Institute, a libertarian, right-wing libertarian think tank funded by Republican mega-donor Charles Koch, while labeling themselves as a grassroots organization.{{Cite news |last=Gabbatt |first=Adam |date=2022-01-24 |title=US conservatives linked to rich donors wage campaign to ban books from schools |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/24/us-conservatives-campaign-books-ban-schools |access-date=2025-03-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The group has heavily participated in the proliferation of the LGBTQ Grooming Conspiracy Theory. It propagates conspiracy theories to combat “woke ideology”, refers to teachers unions as “terrorist organizations”, and considers mentions of LGBTQ+ identity as “sexualization”, concentrating its efforts on Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay and Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer”.{{Cite web |title=Watch Moms for Liberty flop on 60 Minutes |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/moms-for-liberty-60-minutes |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is a nonprofit organization “with a mission to protect marriage”{{Cite web |title=National Organization for Marriage |url=https://nationformarriage.org/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |language=en-US}}. It has long been criticized for tactics that resemble astroturfing, such as its ties to large-scale anonymous donors{{Cite web |title=National Organization for Marriage tax filing reveals shrinking budget, two anonymous super-donors |url=https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/16/1162450/-National-Organization-for-Marriage-tax-filing-reveals-shrinking-budget-two-anonymous-super-donors |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Daily Kos |language=en}}, as well as links to the Catholic and LDS Churches{{Cite journal |last=Associates |first=Political Research |date=November 11, 2013 |title=Profiles on the Right: National Organization for Marriage (NOM) |url=https://politicalresearch.org/2013/11/11/profiles-on-the-right-national-organization-for-marriage |journal=Political Research Associates |language=en}}, even facing allegations that its very formation was a front for the Mormon Church {{Cite web |date=2011-07-01 |title=Prop. 8 foes accuse Mormons of establishing front group |website=The Orange County Register |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701181956/http://totalbuzz.ocregister.com/2009/03/19/prop-8-foes-accuse-mormons-of-establishing-front-group/14727/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |via=web.archive.org}} despite its designation as a 501(c) status nonprofit. The group was formed in 2007 for the sole purpose of supporting California’s Proposition 8, a state ballot measure to prohibit same-sex marriage, and continued to run similar campaigns in Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon.

In 2010, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) launched a website called ‘NOM Exposed’ in which they detailed NOM’s ties to the Catholic and Mormon churches, in which NOM raised nearly $10 million between its formation in 2007 and 2010, made up primarily of large anonymous private donations {{Cite web |title=HRC Courage Campaign Expose NOM |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2010/09/28/hrc-courage-campaign-expose-nom |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}.

{{Main|State-sponsored Internet propaganda}}

An Al Jazeera TV series The Lobby documented Israel's attempt to promote more friendly, pro-Israel rhetoric to influence the attitudes of British youth, partly through influencing already established political bodies, such as the National Union of Students and the Labour Party, but also by creating new pro-Israel groups whose affiliation with the Israeli administration was kept secret.{{Cite web

|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/israeli-diplomat-shai-masot-plotted-against-mps-set-up-political-groups-labour

|title = Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups

|author1 = MacAskill, Ewen

|author2 = Cobain, Ian

|work = The Guardian

|quote = He also says Robin should not tell other people that the embassy has established the group. 'LFI [Labour Friends of Israel] is an independent organisation. No one likes that someone is managing his organisation. That really is the first rule in politics.'

|date = January 8, 2017

|access-date = December 29, 2021

|archive-date = December 29, 2021

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211229155950/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/israeli-diplomat-shai-masot-plotted-against-mps-set-up-political-groups-labour

|url-status = live

}}{{Cite web

|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/american-pro-israel-lobby-girds-for-al-jazeera-expose/

|title=American pro-Israel lobby girds for Al Jazeera exposé

|last=Sirkes

|first=Sue

|work=Times of Israel

|quote=UK’s official media watchdog, Ofcom, rejected a complaint against an earlier Al Jazeera documentary that exposed an Israeli embassy official attempting to influence British lawmakers. Ofcom said the network’s reporting, which led to the resignation of Shai Masot, who was filmed plotting to 'take down' British lawmakers seen as unfriendly to Israel, was not anti-Semitic.

|date=February 8, 2018

|access-date=December 29, 2021

|archive-date=February 6, 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206051258/https://www.timesofisrael.com/american-pro-israel-lobby-girds-for-al-jazeera-expose/

|url-status=live

}}

In 2008, an expert on Chinese affairs, Rebecca MacKinnon, estimated the Chinese government employed 280,000 people in a government-sponsored astroturfing operation to post pro-government propaganda on social media and drown out voices of dissent.{{cite web|title=280,000 pro-China astroturfers are running amok online|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/03/280000-pro-china-astroturfers-are-running-amok-online/|website=Ars Technica|first=Nate|last=Anderson|date=March 26, 2010|access-date=November 7, 2012|archive-date=July 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726210539/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/03/280000-pro-china-astroturfers-are-running-amok-online/|url-status=live}}

In June 2010, the United States Air Force solicited for "persona management" software that would "enable an operator to exercise a number of different online persons from the same workstation and without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries. Personas must be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact through conventional online services and social media platforms..."{{cite web |url=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d88e9d660336be91552fe8c1a51bacb2&tab=core&_cview=1 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110223130125/https%3A//www%2Efbo%2Egov/index?s%3Dopportunity%26mode%3Dform%26id%3Dd88e9d660336be91552fe8c1a51bacb2%26tab%3Dcore%26_cview%3D1 |title=Persona Management Software. Solicitation Number: RTB220610 |archive-date=February 23, 2011 |access-date=12 October 2012 }}
{{cite news |url=https://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/personalsoftware0302.pdf |title=Mirror |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=October 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019233956/https://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/personalsoftware0302.pdf |url-status=dead }} The $2.6 million contract was awarded to Ntrepid for astroturfing software the military would use to spread pro-American propaganda in the Middle East, and disrupt extremist propaganda and recruitment. The contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a program called Operation Earnest Voice, which was first developed as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of groups ranged against coalition forces.{{cite web |url=http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/22/exclusive-militarys-persona-software-cost-millions-used-for-classified-social-media-activities/ |title=Military's 'persona' software cost millions, used for 'classified social media activities' |author=Stephen C. Webster |date=February 22, 2011 |website=The Raw Story |access-date=2011-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223065131/http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/22/exclusive-militarys-persona-software-cost-millions-used-for-classified-social-media-activities/ |archive-date= February 23, 2011 | url-status= live}}{{cite web |url=http://blogs.computerworld.com/17852/army_of_fake_social_media_friends_to_promote_propaganda |title=Army of fake social media friends to promote propaganda |author=Darlene Storm |date=February 22, 2011 |publisher=Computerworld Inc. |access-date=2011-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224055843/http://blogs.computerworld.com/17852/army_of_fake_social_media_friends_to_promote_propaganda |archive-date=February 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks |newspaper=The Guardian |title=Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media |first=Nick |last=Fielding |author2=Ian Cobain |date=March 17, 2011 |access-date=November 12, 2012 |location=London |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610152627/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks |url-status=live }}

In August 2020, the US-based public relations firm, CLS Strategies, was linked to a network of accounts removed by Facebook due to violations of their policies in regards to foreign interference. 55 Facebook accounts, 42 pages, and 36 Instagram accounts were removed.{{Cite web |last1=University |first1=© Stanford |last2=Stanford |last3=California 94305 |date=2020-09-04 |title=A US PR Firm Steps Into Contested Elections |url=https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/us-pr-firm-steps-contested-elections |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=cyber.fsi.stanford.edu |language=en}} The information Facebook shared with investigators showed that the accounts focused on Venezuela, Bolivia, and Mexico, and included duplicate and fake accounts. Records showed connections with CLS Strategies employees, and that some of the work appeared to be at the behest of the Bolivian Government.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-05 |title=Why a DC Public Relations Firm Pretended to Be Bolivian on Facebook |url=https://cepr.net/publications/why-a-dc-public-relations-firm-pretended-to-be-bolivian-on-facebook/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=CEPR |language=en-US}} Facebook had announced the closure of the accounts, stating that they targeted politics in the region and that $3.6 million was spent on advertising in the three countries on what they determined to be disinformation. CLS Strategies claimed the accusations made by Facebook were inaccurate.{{Cite news |last1=Timberg |first1=Craig |last2=Dwoskin |first2=Elizabeth |date=September 4, 2020 |title=Washington firm ran fake Facebook accounts in Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico, report finds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/04/facebook-bolivia-cls/ |access-date=February 25, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

On April 11, 2022, seven weeks into the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, BBC published the results of investigation of a network of Facebook groups with the overall aim to promote the Russian president Vladimir Putin as a hero standing up to the West with overwhelming international support. Members, activities, and interrelations in 10 pro-Putin public groups with more than 650,000 members between them in the time of writing, boasting names such as Vladimir Putin - Leader of the Free World, were analyzed. Over a month, researchers counted 16,500 posts, receiving more than 3.6 million interactions. The campaign "creates the appearance of widespread support for Putin and the Kremlin in the shadow of the invasion and relies on... inauthentic accounts to accomplish its goal", according to a report. Lead researcher Moustafa Ayad described the network and its practice of using tens of duplicate accounts in potential violation of Facebook's rules on inauthentic behavior as an example of astroturfing.{{Cite news |last=Jack Goodman |first=Olga Robinson |date=2022-04-11 |title=Putin's mysterious Facebook 'superfans' on a mission |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-61012398 |access-date=2022-04-11 |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412062215/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-61012398 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Russian propaganda efforts aided by pro-Kremlin content creators, research finds |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-propaganda-efforts-aided-kremlin-content-creators-research-fin-rcna32343 |work=NBC News |publisher=NBC |date=June 8, 2022 |quote=Some of the disinformation that we see spread quickly isn’t being fact-checked because they’re reaching an audience that is deemed to be smaller or less important than that reached by RT and Sputnik, but the talking points are the same and the evidence being presented is the same |access-date=November 24, 2023 |archive-date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610200709/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-propaganda-efforts-aided-kremlin-content-creators-research-fin-rcna32343 |url-status=live }}

{{Portal|Business|Politics|Internet}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Crowds on Demand
• Front organization
• Greenwashing
• Government-organized non-governmental organization
• Internet activism
• Internet Water Army
• Pinkwashing
• Purplewashing
• Redwashing
• Shill
• Whitewashing

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• King, Gary; Pan, Jennifer; Roberts, Margaret E. (2017). "[https://gking.harvard.edu/50c How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument]". American Political Science Review. 111 (3): 484–501. {{doi|10.1017/S0003055417000144}}. {{ISSN|0003-0554}}.

{{Media manipulation}}

Category:Internet manipulation and propaganda

Category:Political campaign techniques

Category:Political corruption

Category:Political metaphors

Category:Political science terminology

Category:Political terminology of the United States

Category:Public relations techniques

Category:Lloyd Bentsen