noun
online sockpuppet; paid troll
Refers to someone who posts online while hiding their affiliation with a company or organization, often to manipulate opinion or promote a specific agenda.
その掲示板にはネット工作員が大量に書き込んでいるらしい。
It seems that many online sockpuppets are posting on that bulletin board.
ネット工作員による世論操作が問題になっている。
Manipulation of public opinion by paid trolls has become a problem.
A troll who disrupts for fun or malice, not necessarily paid or organized; ネット工作員 implies a hidden agenda on behalf of an entity.
Compound of ネット (internet) and 工作員 (operative, agent). The term likely arose in the context of online influence operations.