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The military has expressed disappointment at Facebook’s (FB) decision to shut down the “Hands Off Our Children” page, HOOC, which it said was a legitimate campaign account and against violent extremism.
Facebook revealed that it had removed the HOOC page along with more than 150 other pages, accounts, and groups that are linked to Philippine military and police officers for allegedly misleading people by engaging in malicious behavior.
He had also shut down FB accounts originating from China, which he said allegedly promote President Duterte and the alleged presidential ambitions of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines [AFP] regrets Facebook’s decision to remove the page for Hands Off Our Children, a campaign launched by a group of parents fighting to protect their children from violent extremism, ”said Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay.
“Your complaints are legitimate and your calls are urgent. It has long been discovered that the recruiting machinery of the communist terrorist group victimizes students, conditioning them to become cadres and armed members of the New People’s Army, ”he emphasized.
FB said the accounts, which also included the army’s Kalinaw News, were involved in “coordinated inauthentic behavior”, which resulted in violations, including the red label of human rights defenders, peacekeepers and even journalists.
Gapay said the HOOC page was instrumental in the group’s campaign to raise awareness of the vulnerability of children at the hands of communist front organizations.
“Its arbitrary closure adds to the limited spaces that are offered and the unsympathetic ears of some sectors,” he said.
Gapay’s statement followed a previously scheduled meeting between the military and FB officials headed by Philippine Public Policy Chief Clare Amador to discuss a possible partnership to prevent terrorist exploitation of the Internet.
Amador and his team reached out to Gapay in August to set up the virtual courtesy call and share FB’s global efforts to combat terrorism and address “harmful” content on the platform.
FB is a member of the Global Internet Forum to Fight Terrorism (GIFCT) which was established in 2017 and is now a consortium of companies dedicated to disrupting the terrorist abuse of its members’ digital platforms.
In the Philippine National Police, their spokesman, Colonel Ysmael Yu, said they would continue to adhere to the PNP’s institutional policy that promotes cyber etiquette and proper decorum in all public engagements, including social media platforms. , chat groups and private sites.
“We recognize social networks as an effective tool that technology can offer, especially in this period of health emergency, to establish proactive information and awareness activities, as well as to build a harmonious relationship with the community. As far as we are concerned, the official Facebook pages of the PNP and those of our lower units continue to meet the standards and continue to serve their purpose throughout these goals, ”she said.
Yu said that “all comments and opinions of individual staff, associations and sectoral groups on matters not related to the activities of the organization are hereby disavowed by the PNP as unofficial and unauthorized.”
The PNP spokesperson said they respect the action taken by Facebook on what it perceived to be violations of its terms of use.
