What Is Astroturfing? Meaning, Examples and Is It Legal
In short: Astroturfing is faking grassroots support: making paid, organised or fake voices look like ordinary members of the public who agree with each other. Companies use it with fake reviews; political groups and states use it with fake accounts, paid commenters and bots. The name plays on AstroTurf, a brand of artificial grass: fake "grass roots".
Get our analysis of new manipulation campaigns → debunk.org/subscribe Learn to investigate fake campaigns: start FIMI 101 → debunkacademy.org
Also known as: fake grassroots campaign; manufactured consensus; fake reviews (commercial); coordinated inauthentic behaviour (on social media).
Key facts
Astroturfing means publishing opinions or comments that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but are in fact organised or paid for.
US Senator Lloyd Bentsen popularised the term in 1985, saying "a fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grass roots and Astro Turf" about a wave of organised letters.
Since 28 May 2022, EU consumer law has banned submitting or commissioning false consumer reviews or endorsements.
Since 21 October 2024, a US Federal Trade Commission rule has banned fake reviews, including AI-generated ones, and buying fake followers or views for commercial purposes.
China's government fabricates about 448 million social media comments a year, according to a 2017 study by Gary King, Jennifer Pan and Margaret Roberts.
Debunk.org analysis of reactions to LRT English Facebook posts about Kaliningrad, June–August 2022: 56.9% of 848 manually checked accounts were likely trolls or bots.
Updated October 2026 · By Debunk.org, an independent non-profit that researches disinformation
Contents: What does astroturfing mean? · Where the word comes from · Examples · Astroturfing and AI · Is astroturfing legal? · How to spot astroturfing · Astroturfing, bot farms and sockpuppets · FAQ · Sources
What does astroturfing mean?
Astroturfing means disguising an organised or paid campaign as spontaneous support from ordinary people.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as "the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public". [1] In reality, the messages come from an organised or paid campaign. The key word is appear: the messages may be true or false, but who is behind them is hidden.
Real grassroots campaigns grow from people who care about an issue and say so openly. Astroturfing fakes that look, with paid writers, fake accounts, bought reviews or software, to persuade others that "everyone" thinks the same.
Get our analysis of new manipulation campaigns by email. debunk.org/subscribe
Next: most online astroturfing runs on fake accounts. See what a bot farm is and how to spot one.
Where the word comes from
The word plays on AstroTurf, a brand of artificial grass, and was popularised by US Senator Lloyd Bentsen in 1985.
Faced with a flood of cards and letters about a tax bill, Bentsen told The Washington Post in August 1985: "A fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grass roots and Astro Turf… This is generated mail." [2] Earlier political uses of the image have been found, so he popularised the term rather than inventing it. [2]
Examples of astroturfing
Astroturfing ranges from fake product reviews to state-run comment campaigns.
Type | Example | Source |
Commercial | In 2019, in its first case against paid fake reviews on a retail site, the US Federal Trade Commission said a company had "paid a website… to create and post Amazon reviews of their product". The case was settled, not decided in court. | FTC, 26 February 2019 [3] |
Offline: organised letter campaigns | In 1985, US senators received a flood of cards and letters about a tax bill that looked spontaneous but had been organised; Senator Lloyd Bentsen called it "generated mail" and compared it with AstroTurf. Organised letters to newspapers and paid crowds at events follow the same pattern. | The Washington Post, 7 August 1985 [2] |
State, China | The Chinese government "fabricates and posts about 448 million social media comments a year", mostly to distract rather than argue. | King, Pan and Roberts, American Political Science Review, 2017 [4] |
State, Russia (planned) | Leaked plans of Russia's Social Design Agency for Latvia set a goal "to create 8–10 social media posts and 40–60 comments daily" in July and August 2022, "often via comments on posts by legitimate outlets". These were targets, not measured output. | Re:Baltica, 8 October 2024 [5] |
Amplification of a Baltic broadcaster's posts | Debunk.org found artificial amplification of LRT English's Facebook posts on Kaliningrad: of 848 accounts checked manually, 56.9% were likely trolls or bots, mostly from Nigeria, Kenya and the Philippines. No state attribution was made. | Debunk.org, 22 September 2022 [6] |
Astroturfing and AI
AI makes astroturfing cheaper: one operator can now generate thousands of "different" comments and replies.
OpenAI reported in May 2024 that influence operations "used our models to create the appearance of engagement across social media - for example, by generating replies to their own posts", and that Russia's Doppelganger "posted AI-generated comments on 9GAG". [7] In June 2025 it described a China-origin operation whose behaviour "appeared designed to create a false impression of organic engagement". [8]
Volume isn't influence, though: OpenAI's May 2024 report found no "increased engagement from authentic audiences" as a result. [7] Our page on the Breakout Scale explains how analysts measure whether such campaigns reach real people.
Is astroturfing legal?
Commercial astroturfing, such as fake reviews and bought followers, is illegal in the EU, the UK, the US and Australia; political astroturfing is mostly covered by platform rules, election law and, for states, sanctions.
What the law says:
EU: since 28 May 2022, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, as amended by Directive (EU) 2019/2161, blacklists "submitting or commissioning another legal or natural person to submit false consumer reviews or endorsements", and requires traders to take "reasonable and proportionate steps" before claiming reviews come from real customers (Annex I, points 23b and 23c). The directive names "'likes' on social media" as a form of fake endorsement. [9]
US: the Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465), effective 21 October 2024, bans fake reviews, including those by "someone who does not exist, such as AI-generated fake reviews", paying for reviews of a particular sentiment, and "selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence, such as followers or views generated by a bot or hijacked account" when used commercially. [10]
UK: since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has banned "submitting, or commissioning another person to submit or write… a fake consumer review" or one that "conceals the fact it has been incentivised" (Schedule 20, paragraph 13). [11]
Australia: the competition regulator, the ACCC, treats fake online reviews as "misleading conduct" under the Australian Consumer Law and issued guidance to businesses and review platforms in December 2013. [12]
Platforms: all major platforms ban fake accounts and coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and remove networks they find.
States: state astroturfing is rarely a crime where it is run, but the organisations behind it can be sanctioned: the US, the EU and the UK have sanctioned Russia's Internet Research Agency, and the EU listed the Social Design Agency in 2023. See our page on bot farms and troll farms.
This is general information, not legal advice.
How to spot astroturfing: 7 signs
Astroturfing shows itself through sameness: many "different" people saying the same thing, in the same way, at the same time.
Same words, many voices: identical or near-identical comments and reviews.
Sudden bursts: a quiet post or product suddenly gets hundreds of reactions in a short time.
Accounts that don't fit: new, faceless or foreign accounts commenting on a local issue.
One-topic profiles: accounts that post only about one product, party or cause.
Reviews without detail: praise with no specifics, many 5-star ratings on the same days.
Hidden sponsor: a "citizens' group" with no named people, funding or address.
Cross-platform echo: the same message appearing on several platforms at once to look independent.
Learn to investigate fake campaigns yourself. FIMI 101 teaches the open-source checks and frameworks analysts use. → Start FIMI 101
Astroturfing, bot farms and sockpuppets: how they differ
Astroturfing is the goal (fake public support); sockpuppets, troll farms and bot farms are the tools used to create it.
Term | What it is |
Astroturfing | Making organised support look spontaneous |
Sockpuppet | One fake identity used to deceive |
Troll farm | Paid people running many fake identities |
Bot farm | Software running many fake accounts |
Coordinated inauthentic behaviour | Platforms' term for networks of fake accounts working together |
FAQ
What is an example of astroturfing? Fake product reviews written to order; a government's paid commenters posing as ordinary citizens; bot accounts making a post look popular.
Is astroturfing legal? Fake reviews and bought endorsements are illegal in the EU (since May 2022) and the US (FTC rule, since October 2024). Political astroturfing breaks platform rules and, in some cases, election or sanctions law.
What does astroturfing mean in AI? Using AI to generate many fake comments, reviews or replies that look like they come from different real people.
What does astroturfing mean in slang? Faking popularity or public support, for example with fake fans, followers or reviews.
Why is it called astroturfing? After AstroTurf, a brand of artificial grass: astroturfing is fake "grass roots".
Written by Debunk.org. Updated October 2026. Debunk.org is an independent non-profit that researches disinformation and FIMI and an EU Digital Services Act trusted flagger.
Sources
Cambridge Dictionary, "astroturfing". https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/astroturfing (accessed 23 Oct 2026)
The Washington Post, 7 August 1985, as cited in Grant Barrett, The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang (2004), p. 34; see https://barrypopik.com/blog/astroturf_astroturfing (accessed 23 Oct 2026)
US Federal Trade Commission, FTC Brings First Case Challenging Fake Paid Reviews on an Independent Retail Website, 26 February 2019. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/02/ftc-brings-first-case-challenging-fake-paid-reviews-independent-retail-website
Gary King, Jennifer Pan and Margaret E. Roberts, How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument, American Political Science Review 111(3), 2017, pp. 484–501. https://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/how_the_chinese_government_fabricates_social_media_posts_for_strategic_distraction_not_engaged_argument.pdf
Re:Baltica, Confrontation with Russia leads to poverty: how a Russian troll factory planned to turn public opinion in Latvia, 8 October 2024. https://en.rebaltica.lv/2024/10/confrontation-with-russia-leads-to-poverty-how-a-russian-troll-factory-planned-to-turn-public-opinion-in-latvia/
Debunk.org, Posts related to Kaliningrad sanctions targeted by social media bots and trolls, 22 September 2022. https://www.debunk.org/posts-related-to-kaliningrad-sanctions-targeted-by-social-media-bots-and-trolls
OpenAI, AI and Covert Influence Operations: Latest Trends, May 2024, p. 8. https://openai.com/index/disrupting-deceptive-uses-of-ai-by-covert-influence-operations/
OpenAI, Disrupting malicious uses of AI, June 2025, p. 7. https://cdn.openai.com/threat-intelligence-reports/5f73af09-a3a3-4a55-992e-069237681620/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-june-2025.pdf
Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of 27 November 2019, recital 49, Article 7(1) and the amendments to Annex I of Directive 2005/29/EC (points 23b, 23c). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/2161/oj
US Federal Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials, 14 August 2024, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials; final rule, 89 FR 68034, 22 August 2024.
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20, paragraph 13(1). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/13/schedule/20 (in force 6 April 2025)
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, ACCC releases guidance about online product reviews, 3 December 2013. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-releases-guidance-about-online-product-reviews
Comments