Facebook shuts down fake accounts linked to China, PH police and army

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 23) – Social media giant Facebook has cracked down on hordes of fake accounts linked to Chinese and Philippine state forces that were found spreading misinformation about local politics and critics of the Duterte administration.

“In each case, the people behind this activity coordinated with each other and used fake accounts as a central part of their operations to mislead people about who they are and what they are doing,” said Facebook’s Chief Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher, in a statement. on Tuesday.

Facebook removed 57 accounts, 31 pages and 20 Instagram accounts linked to state security forces for false activity on social media. He said accounts connected to the Philippine military and police were found to violate the policy on coordinated inauthentic behavior, with their posts targeting the Filipino audience.

He said accounts linked to the Philippine police and military used fake profiles to “evade the app, post content, comment and manage pages,” noting that the activity accelerated between 2019 and 2020. These fake accounts delved into military activities against terrorism, the controversial anti-terrorism act, criticism of communism, young activists and opponents, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Several social media accounts of local police stations and police officers have been investigated for red-labeling opposition lawmakers and activist leaders. This continued despite the warning from former PNP chief Archie Gamboa.

Facebook found that accounts linked to Philippine state forces have spent approximately $ 53,421 to advertise these fake posts.

It has also closed 155 Facebook accounts, 11 Pages, nine groups, and six Instagram accounts originating in China due to foreign or government interference in the Philippines. She said online activity groups used fake accounts posing as Filipinos to post, comment on and like posts “particularly about naval activity in the South China Sea.”

Facebook also said these accounts posted fervent support for President Rodrigo Duterte and the possible presidential campaign in 2022 of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. These accounts also criticized the Rappler online news team, which has been consistently criticized by Duterte and members of his cabinet.

The social media giant in 2019 also removed 200 accounts linked to Nic Gabunada, the man who ran Duterte’s social media campaign when he ran for president in 2016. Reports at the time quoted Gabunada as saying that, as a person of communication, their accounts were added even without their approval on pages and groups during and after the 2016 election campaign.