Propaganda Subnet Overview (GSN)
Concept developed: January 9, 2026
Collaborators: Gary Sheng, Grant El-Deir
What It Is
A BitTensor subnet that incentivizes viral content creation across all social media platforms. Instead of rewarding all creators proportionally, it rewards only the top performers for each "brief" (narrative/topic to push).
Core Mechanism
- Briefs: Time-limited campaigns (e.g., 2 weeks) with a specific narrative or topic
- Competition: Creators compete to produce the most viral content for each brief
- Rewards: Top 3 performers per brief receive token rewards
- Validation: API calls to social media platforms for view counts
- Anti-bot design: Extreme virality requirement eliminates bots (can't fake 100M views)
Why BitTensor
- Permissionless competition infrastructure already built
- Token economics align incentives (alpha holders direct narratives)
- Skill-based, not capital-based
- Decentralized and "unbannable"
Key Innovation
Sits as a layer on top of all social media platforms simultaneously. Unlike TikTok Creator Fund (TikTok only) or YouTube Partner Program (YouTube only), this controls narrative across the entire attention economy.
"You control the narrative on all social medias. These people can just control the narrative on one social media. You control the narrative on all social medias."
Technical Approach
- Fork BitCast (subnet 93) as starting point
- Modify reward mechanism: all creators → top 3 per brief
- Start with TikTok (easiest for new accounts to go viral)
- Expand to X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook
- Use LLM to validate transcript alignment with brief requirements
Economics
- Subnet cost: ~250 tau (under $100,000)
- Alpha token holders: Control which narratives get funded
- Value proposition: Most efficient propaganda distribution ever created
Use Cases
- Christian content promotion
- Book/product launches (publishers buy alpha to promote)
- Political campaigns
- Any cause-based narrative
- Corporate marketing
Strategic Advantages
| Advantage | Description |
|---|---|
| Unbannable | No single account to deplatform |
| Platform-agnostic | Works across all social media |
| Skill-based | Best storytellers win, not biggest budgets |
| Self-funding | Token economics create sustainable incentive loop |
| Scalable | No marginal cost per creator |
Next Steps
- Gary to write detailed proposal brief
- Grant to provide technical support and potential investment
- Potential pitch to Mike Ajouz for Christian propaganda funding
- Sunday onboarding call for Gary to understand Gittensor/mining
Key Quote
"This is the ultimate George Soros. You're just this invisible hand that manipulates the market of attention."
Source: 2026-01-09 conversation between Gary Sheng and Grant El-Deir