Breaking into the Phone Farm factory creates millions of views on TikTok and Facebook

Service explosion increases virtual interaction

Thousands of actions of writing comments, dropping 'favorites',. were created in less than a minute from different social network accounts, lightning fast.

These simultaneous commands are inherently integrated into software on computers, and old, broken phones become an indispensable component of a Phone Farm that manipulates millions of views on social networking platforms.

When e-commerce (e-commerce) explodes, the reputation of sellers is assessed through the level of user interaction with each content they post. This also applies to social networking sites. It is the appeal of interaction that has created the market to "increase user interaction" to increase credibility, thereby attracting more followers and profits. From here, the Click Farm or Phone Farm market was born.

Breaking into the Phone Farm factory creates millions of views on TikTok and Facebook Picture 1

A 'factory' creating Phone Farm in Hanoi.

Click Farm, or Phone Farm, has the purpose of helping customers increase views and interactions on social networks in the direction of manipulating algorithms and user perceptions. This type was first mentioned in 2007, mainly in developing countries. Over the next decade, Phone Farm exploded in number, especially in Asia such as India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines.

A popular Phone Farm is described as a rig with dozens to hundreds of phones set up in two common ways: One is to use phones on stands, with a control screen; The second is mounted in a carrying case, with only the circuit board and control via computer.

This farm model is applied to increase interaction on all popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, Youtube. The most popular is TikTok.

How does Phone Farm work?

The operating mechanism of a Phone Farm is quite simple if the user installs all the serving applications. When users need to increase large numbers of interactions on digital content such as articles posted on Facebook or a livestream sales session, they will activate Phone Farm activities through an application that connects phones in the Farm. installed on the computer.

From this application, the user places an operation command, all machines in the Farm immediately follow the command and create interaction on a content. The more machines you farm, the greater the amount of interaction. This Farm connection application can do many types of commands: drop emoticons on social network content, create new accounts on social networks with many different email accounts, create identical comments on a post,.

The most special feature of Phone Farm is that it can open a livestream session at the same time to increase the number of live viewers, creating the feeling that the livestream is very prestigious and attracting a large audience.

The Phone Farm control application operates on the mechanism of spoofing the access address (IP) through a proxy. This makes it difficult for bot scanning systems of social networking platforms or websites to immediately recognize virtual content. Currently, although the scanners of social network providers are very modern and can scan many Phone Farms, they still cannot completely eliminate this type of controversial service.

The hot development of the Phone Farm model leads to "half laughing, half crying" stories. In 2017, the Daily Mail pointed out a paradox occurring in China, where the Click Farm/Phone Farm market is the most developed in the world.

At that time, two TV shows in the country recorded more than 1 billion online views in a day, while the number of Chinese internet users at that time only reached 750 million. This country's CCTV station once confirmed that 90% of the views of some famous programs on Chinese video channels were fake.

Also this year, Thai police busted the Phone Farm network and confiscated thousands of smartphones. The police charges relate to phone smuggling and the use of unregistered SIM cards.

Some countries like China have begun to tighten this type to reduce fraud. This country closed the use of Phone Farm as violating unfair competition laws.

Or on the social network Facebook, the virtual interaction service has been tightened many times for violating community standards. Meanwhile, the terms of platforms like YouTube and TikTok also prohibit the use of automated tools to increase views and comments. Therefore, systems like this are always at risk of being raided by platforms.

In Vietnam, Phone Farms are behind some countries and are still operating strongly because there are no sanctions to regulate the activities of this type.

Phone Farm construction market

Technology stores buy old phones, remove all unimportant components and set up Phone Farm sets priced from 20 million VND.

As noted by VTC News reporter, in a room of about 30 m2 located on Truong Cong Giai street (Cau Giay, Hanoi), programmers are integrating dozens of phones into a computer software to create Phone. Farm and prepare for market. Thousands of other damaged phones are thrown haphazardly on floors and desks, waiting for technicians to check and put them to use as a Phone Farm.

Phone Farm or Click Farm is a general term to refer to a system that includes many different phones and tablets used to do tasks such as increasing likes, views, automatic comments. on social networks. Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. This system is also used to increase downloads, app reviews, website visits.

Staff at the Phone Farm store on Truong Cong Giai street (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that the most important parts that make up a Phone Farm are phones and tablets.

According to the staff here, his store has Phone Farm complete phones and Phone Farm circuit boards (the battery and screen of the phone have been removed). In particular, the whole type is to hold all functions such as screen, battery. This type is used for the stand so that users can easily live stream, see likes, share. And the motherboard type is the part. The batteries and screens of the phones will be removed, leaving only the motherboard. This type ensures safety and saves costs.

'We can create hundreds of phones into a Phone Farm system. However, it depends on the customer's needs to offer a reasonable price ," this employee shared.

At the time the reporter recorded, the store had a Phone Farm of about 20 phones placed in racks or boxes. With a stand that uses 20 units with intact screens and batteries so users can easily livestream, view likes, and comments. According to store staff, the price of such a Phone Farm ranges from 30 - 40 million VND, including operating costs.

As for the Phone Farm box of 20, with the battery and screen removed, the price ranges from 25 - 30 million VND for all operating costs.

A Phone Farm set is in the process of being installed and put into operation.

Employees here are connecting to computers to control accounts on phones. After success, these phones will be put on a stand or put in a box to be sent to customers to use.

When these Phone Farms reach the user, they are very easy to operate. Just give them a certain command and these phones will execute them all at once. With 20 phones used at the same time, the system can create hundreds of new nicks and increase 20 views and 20 likes at the same time without being detected as cheating or violating the policies of Facebook, TikTok.

This Phone Farm is being checked by staff one last time before being delivered to users at a price of 30 - 40 million VND for all operating costs.

The law has not stipulated

In essence, Phone Farm takes advantage of the recommendation mechanism of social networking platforms. If there is a lot of interaction for a content, the platform will disseminate that content more widely to users. Phone Farm helps this interaction rule maximize its effectiveness, bringing benefits to account holders who use the service.

Therefore, if it is used for bad purposes such as spreading fake news or defamatory or malicious content, it will be a danger to the community.

According to lawyer Ho Van Son, Ho Gia - Phu Thinh Law Firm, there are currently no sanctions to manage phone farm services in Vietnam, so the legality of this service is still open, with no regulations yet. handling skills. Therefore, this form is still operating in Vietnam.

However, individuals and organizations using the Click Farm service may face legal issues, depending on the content and purpose of use of that individual or organization. Lawyer Son said: "If Phone Farm users use it for bad purposes such as spreading fake news, libelous or malicious content, or for the purpose of defrauding or appropriating property, they will be a danger to the public. community. Depending on the nature and severity of the cause, these acts may be subject to administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution in accordance with current law."

At the press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications in October 2023, a representative of the Information Security Department also said that this type of device is not banned in the regulations. If you want to manage, you will need to develop Vietnamese standards for the industry, taking steps from both a management and technical perspective to control and license.

Jessica Tanner

Update 02 April 2024