[1] Companies that engage in the influence-for-hire industry range from content farms to high-end public relations agencies.
Traditionally influence operations have largely been confined to public sector actors like intelligence agencies, in the influence-for-hire industry the groups conduction the operations are private with commerce being their primary consideration.
Facebook attributed the network to organizations and consultants linked to Ukrainian politicians including Andriy Derkach.
[4][5] During the COVID-19 pandemic state sponsored misinformation was spread through influence-for-hire networks.
[6] In August 2021, a report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute implicated the Chinese government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party in campaigns of online manipulation conducted against Australia and Taiwan using influence-for-hire.