It’s an interesting question. We know a lot about China forum manipulation thanks to the King et al. paper. The 50c who are organized and paid use distraction, but there are also volunteer groups (the “bring your own grainers” and “little red flowers”, believed to be unorganized by the regime) who are combative arguers.
Which is @Matthew_Edwards? The posts don’t indicate one way or another. He claims to be from Wyoming, if the originating IP is from that state that would be suggestive that he is sincere. Of course IPs can be spoofed or he could be using Tor.
I lean towards paid because his posts read like they are cut and pasted from focus-grouped coal company talking points. We’ll never know, though.
