What is 'Spinternet'? Well it's a term coined by Evgeny Morozov, a Belarussian journalist who has written extensively on the politics behind internet censorship. In a way, it refers to a shift in tactics used by governments trying to censor the internet. In the past, internet censorship was straight forward. Government blocked websites, manipulated search engines and harassed dissenting bloggers and reporters. However, Morozov states that the increasing ease and speed of internet communication has made these methods ineffective.
Blocking a website only draws attention to it and motivates internet users to find ways to get around the block. Therefore, this has the counterproductive effect of increasing the popularity of that blocked website. Unfortunately it is impossible for the governments to block all the blogs that censored opinions or information can quickly spreed.
Thus government need to find a new way to control the internet content. Many have tried to create a 'Spinternet' where a version of the internet which the government 'spins' dissenting users views to align with the governments views. This spinning of opinions is done secretly by people hired by the government in question. Let me list a few notable examples. In China, there is the50-Cent Party, composed of nearly 300,000 Chinese citizens who get 50 cents for each comment they post online, if it steers the discussion in a way that is favorable to the Chinese government. In addition, recently it was revealed that there is a plan in Nigeria to mobilize selected individuals to create seemingly credible online forums that would be used to (presumably falsely) attack the Nigerian government's online critics
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