Amazon Warehouse Staff Defend Retailer on Twitter

A small group of American Amazon employees is being paid to defend and promote the company on Twitter.

A total of 16 accounts have been found on Twitter, written by staff who have worked at the retailer's warehouses.

Called "FC ambassadors", the workers have most often responded to tweets critical of Amazon's working practices.

Amazon said the accounts were run by real people, not software bots created to automatically respond to unfavourable views.

"The most important thing is that they've been here long enough to honestly share the facts based on personal experience," said an Amazon spokesman.

"It's important that we do a good job of educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfilment centres, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that," he added.