Online manipulation was the centerpiece of elections in as many as 18 countries in the past year, including the US. The use of paid commentators and political bots to spread government propaganda was pioneered by China and Russia but has now gone global. As many as 30 countries, including Turkey, Sudan, Venezuela and the Philippines, used gangs of tolls to manipulate and distort public opinion. In Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Syria and four other countries, extreme measures were taken against online journalists or people leaving their opinions online, some ending up dead.”]