> in fact there's no single source (political party, etc) that would pay to originate this stuff

There are private firms working in cahoots with state actors to influence opinion and shape narrative all across the internet and especially on social media.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook–Cambridge_Analytica...