IEEE Access Special Section: Curbing Crowdturfing in Online Social Networks

As online social networks are reshaping the way users share their daily experiences, and the way business practitioners manage their marketing activities, crowdturfing has been emerging as a potential threat that concerns many users. If no proper measures are taken, it may result in a crisis, such as public opinion being misled. In general, crowdturfing refers to coordinated suspicious online behaviors, such as hiring online posters to propagandize online comments with mendacious contents or to spread gossip about their competitors. Through crowdturfing, the stakeholders can achieve their expected goals of manipulating the public opinion, which would further bring negative effects on both the Internet users and society.