THE FAKE NEWS IN THE PHILIPPINES: DISSECTING THE PROPAGANDA OF MACHINE

(Transcription)

“The biggest sin is to use my womanhood to silence my humanity, to use a weapon meant to oppress
progressed and diminished women in order to perpetuate even greater human rights violations”. – Leila De
Lima

A sex video undeclared wealth, drug trafficking, these are the allegations against Senator Lila de Lima, 2016 was
one of the worst years for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s biggest critic. In just six months the De Lima’s reputation
goes from human rights defender to protect her of drug syndicates.

Mr. President I have been vilified and attacked not only a social media but also by the president's men as
a drug lord cuddler and protector. – Leila De Lima

It started in October 2016 as the Senators criticism of the darkest bloody drug war intensifies, so does the probe
into her alleged drug trafficking links.

Sa iyong pagkakaalam, alam ba ni Secretary De Lima kung sino ang mga drug lord, at mga operation ng
mga drug lord, sa labas at loob ng kulungan? – Fredenil Castro, Representative, Second District of
Capiz.

I am not sure about sa labas. But I am sure na alam niya kung sino ang nasa loob. – Jaybee Sebastian,
High Profile Inmate

Online supporters of the president also revel and screenshots of her supposed sex video. Justice Secretary
Ditaliano Aguire himself claims De Lima has three sex videos that can be used as evidence against her character. De Lima’s
camp says there are no such videos. This information in social media also claims De Lima bought a six million dollar mansion
in New York City,was kicked out of a conference in Germany, and that her son was arrested in an airport for carrying drugs
all are false. The senator is also often quoted in fake news reports for things she never said, by February 2017 De Lima is
in jail. The second woman in power to feel the ire of the president, vice president Lenie Robredo accused of cheating to win
the 2016 elections and plotting to oust Duterte, Robredo is a constant subject of false reports. In mid-2016 blogs and
Facebook account spread rumors of her brother's alleged affair with another politician, there are also false reports of a
subsequent pregnancy and abortion. In March 2017 where Brenda is embroiled in even more fake news after she speaks
out against the Duterte’s drug war in an international conference.

It is already February 2017 and the body count due the drug related killings keeps growing. We are now
looking at some very grim statistics, since July last year more than 7,000 people have been killed in
summary executions. – Lenie Robredo. Vice President.

Reports include her getting slapped with travel sanctions by the US State Department and heckled during another
talk abroad.

The difficult thing about this lies that are constantly being told becomes the truth so how it's really a whole
new world that we're traversing and we hope we would have the answers but we just hope that people will
be more discerning you know people will take it upon themselves to to check whether what they're reading
online. – Lenie Robredo. Vice President.

There are chilling similarities between the two women both have influence and are vocal against the newly elected
presidents, both find themselves the subjects of disinformation campaigns.

A year into the detector presidency and a pattern becomes clear, misogynistic comments are repeated over
and over again. A series of fabricated stories undermined the reputation of victims, patriotic trolling this
is the term now used to describe targeted state-sponsored online hate and harassment campaigns leverage
to silent and intimidate individuals. Evidence in the past two years show that this is in full swing here in the
Philippines. – Natashya Gutierez, Southeast Asia Correspondent, Rappler.

Maria Reza a Filipino journalist and CEO of social news network Rappler monitored the government's propaganda
machine from the beginning.

This is the first time social machinery, social media machinery actually helped elect a president the
Philippines and then a few months after President Duterte was elected, we saw the campaign machinery
pivot and become weaponized. – Maria Resa, CEO of Rappler

In the 2016 presidential elections the Duterte campaign successfully created a potent online distribution network, a
mix of paid efforts and volunteers that helped elect then Davao City Mayor Duterte as president.
This network cut across different geographical groups delivering messages especially designed to tap into
Filipinos anger towards elitist politics. But it was after that there that was proclaimed precedent that this network was
weaponized, the network evolved its messaging transformed to stifle dissent attacking anyone who dares speak out against
the president with profanities and name-calling. These attacks are amplified by fake news, fake accounts, bots and so-
called keyboard warriors sowing confusion and distrust. The effect a spiral of silence people are afraid to speak up online.

It took anger that was already there in the society, it hid fracture lines in the society and then splintered so
that people were attacking each other, people couldn't tell the difference between fact and fiction and in
that kind of environment what you have is the voice with the loudest megaphone wins. – Maria Resa, CEO
of Rappler

This propaganda machine attacks not just public officials but even civilians, 21 year old student Nicole de Castro is
one of many netizens who experienced firsthand just how vicious these attacks could be. In November 2016 that Duterte’s
administration allows the burial of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the hero cemetery almost 30 years since his death.
De Castro like many Millennials joins protests on the streets she is caught on video carrying a sign that reads “Marcos is
not a hero” and arguing with hecklers. The video is posted without context on social media and immediately goes viral. The
attacks come in droves the threats are misogynist and foul, she is threatened with gang rape.

There was fear for my life and for my family that was my most concern because, my dad he's his Facebook
and my mom as well so they would see those comments and then I have relatives as well who would try to
defend me and then these trolls or you know real people which is worse I believe they would comment back
to my relatives and friends so that's what affected me the most but what's really concerning for me is how
about the other girls like other girls and other people who are experiencing this you know they wouldn't get
this as much support. – Nicole De Castro, Law Student

Well some comments are from real people who are behind the fake accounts that so hate and fanned the flames.
Pamela Combinido is one of several Filipino researchers working with the newton tech for dev network the group published
a study that shows the architects of disinformation in the Philippines are not who most people would suspect rather than
random hateful individuals the study finds there is instead a complex system to the entire operation.

Here in the study we uncovered the professionalized and higher archives work of political groups doing
political campaigns so we argue in this study that this work is our professionalized and ordinarily, it's
hierarchical and in terms of expertise it's very it's very sophisticated and we also try to recommend some
solutions on how we could deal with the information pollution that we are grappling with now. – Pamele
Combinido, Researcher, Newtontechdevnetwork

According to the study advertising and public relations executives of boutique agencies serve political clients on the
side, these executives are at the top level of the networked in this information hierarchy they are the ones who strategize
and set campaign objectives. On the second level our anonymous digital influencers who usually operate one or more
Facebook pages or Twitter feeds that have anywhere from fifty thousand to two million followers. They are the content
creators of memes and viral posts and are crucial in amplifying and reinforcing the core messages set by the high-profile
bloggers and influencers hired for the campaign and at the bottom of the hierarchy are fake account operators who do the
grunt work they comment and share and create an illusion of engagement together they create an organized deadly and
powerful propaganda operation.

So that's how they do, so the amplified the mess in these influences and think a hard operators amplified
the messages that the clients and the chief architects agreed on. – Pamele Combinido, Researcher,
Newtontechdevnetwork

Kailan ba nagkaroon ng malawakang pagkilos, upang pukpukin ang polisya, na tugisin ang mga criminal,
lalo na yung malalaki. – Chief Justice Renato Corona

Evidence of how quickly the network can act is seen in the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno yet
another woman in power. In late 2017 ADA tear the Ally files an impeachment complaint against her Congress begins
deliberating the case in September 2017 roughly two weeks after the complaint was endorsed by 25 lawmakers. It was
former President Benigno Aquino the third a member of the Opposition who appointed Serrano as chief justice. By
November 2017 the propaganda machine starts spreading false reports that Serrano escaped and left the country within
two days at least eight websites carry the story these are quickly shared across a network of at least 58 Pro-Duterte
Facebook groups and pages.

May I request the members in favor of finding probable cause to please rise.

By March Congress finds probable cause to in each Sereno a move critics condemn as harassment. Clarissa David a
professor from the University of the Philippines explains why this information in social media is usually related to politics. –
Clarissa David

This all of this is happening around politics because politics is very polarizing and the platforms are rigged
to encourage a lot of polarizing content sharing of polarizing content because things that make us angry,
things that make us fearful are shared more frequently are like more frequently and then people get hyped
up and then they comment. So, as a result the stories get more traction on the platform. . – Clarissa David

Mixed emotions with various actors in place and what you get is what wrestles deaths by a thousand cuts.

You're creating a very complex ecosystem here where you have real people believers amplified by BOTS
automated accounts and then fake accounts that are meant to cause a kind of movement right and the end
goal here is to flood the market with so much information so what you're doing in this environment is you
flood the market with lies to the point that people society can't tell fact from fiction and when you don't know
what to believe then your loudest voice your president then gets the power. – Maria Resa, CEO of Rappler

And then there are the prototype the bloggers. this is Mocha Uson a former sexy dancer turned the Duterte propagandist.

Wag mong araw-arawin, ang katangahan mo. P*tang*n aka! Bumili ka ng utak at hindi ng mga mamahaling
damit. – Mocha Uson

Her Facebook page has more than 5 million followers. This is Sass Rogando Sasot, a Filipina student living in the
Netherlands “didn't you study Philippine in American history” and this is RJ Nieto he's better known by his pen name
Thinking Pinoy “tapos akala niyo kung sino kayong kaiinam. T*ng*na niyo ule” all three bloggers are considered the
president's biggest supporters online amassing more than 7 million followers in Facebook more than other credible sources.
How do they do it? They use hate rhetoric that resonates were the frustrations of ordinary Filipinos highlighting president
Duterte as the agent of change, the strong man from the neglected South who will go head-to-head with the power elites
and corrupt politicians. They also slam and spread vicious means and posts about the therapist critics as well as share
disinformation, all while escaping accountability. The message is simple if you go against this strong men you are an enemy
of change. Together these three bloggers produce content that cut across three major groups the masses, pseudo-
intellectuals, and the middle class in return the trust that the government puts in beast bloggers are undeniable. So now
holds a government post under the presidential communications office while Nieto was hired as a consultant of the Foreign
Affairs Department. Malacana even has a new and controversial policy offer crediting bloggers to cover the president a
privilege previously accorded only to journalists who undergo thorough vetting. In an interview with Rappler presidential
communications assistant secretary Kris Ablan bland defends the decision.

PCOO recognizes that bloggers have to recognize that bloggers deliver information and if we don't
recognize bloggers then it's a big segment we believe that will not be receiving the proper information so
we recognize them because we feel that by giving information to them they'll be able to share it to their
followers to their friends and everyone that follows their blogs. – Kris Ablan, Assistant Secretary,
Presidential Communication Operations Office

In theory having bloggers there and citizen journalists is a welcome opportunity for more people to be involved,but
what then happens when the person who accredits these bloggers has been constantly accused of being a purveyor of this
information?

Well Natasha that shouldn't be a justification to not have accreditation. I feel that if the problem would be
the office or the person behind the office in implementing it then that should be addressed not the whole
program. – Kris Ablan, Assistant Secretary, Presidential Communication Operations Office

Indeed in the age of social media journalists are no longer the gatekeepers of information everyone is now given
the power to publish their own content online and while this democratizes information it also comes at a price this gives rise
to a new player in the information ecosystem, algorithms that wrap content served on news feeds. As machines take over
the critical role of filtering what people see online they also foster the rise of a disinformation ecosystem.

What do they see or will they see a whole mix of stuff but they see a mix that is predetermined by some
algorithm oh and by your friends and the pages that you follow right so you have you have a silo and that's
everything that you see. – Clarissa David, UP Professor

David also says platforms like Facebook can easily begin to prioritize content by propaganda machines over that
of legitimate news organizations.

Facebook can give news organizations, the power to insert content to people's feeds that they may not be
interested in nobody but they don't do that, they just do everything by agree and by doing that what they do
is if you pay them advertising dollars or pesos to push content to certain target in some groups it can be
done so what happens is legitimate news organizations which very often out of principle won't do that.
Matatlo sila by propaganda machines then we'll do that on a regular basis and have no ethical bounce we're
not doing. – Clarissa David, UP Professor

Carly Nyst a human rights lawyer and tech consultant studies patriotic trolling worldwide she says there is a
disturbing patterns across different countries.

Governments are deploying automated social media messaging to create a feeling of overwhelming
numbers and a groundswell if you will, we see attacks mostly directed at journalists and activists those that
speak out against the status quo really, we see attacks using really violent language misogynistic language
designed really to intimidate critics of the government and to silence them, we see quite often the use of
claims of affiliation with foreign intelligence agencies that's quite a common tactic use. - Carly Nyst, Privacy
Data Protection and Human Rights Law Expert.

It sounds all too familiar for the Philippines while government's using propaganda and disinformation campaigns are nothing
new social media drastically changed their scale and the speed with which they are disseminated.

Now that part and parcel of that violence is disinformation or hate speech against vulnerable communities. Cherian George
a professor in the Department of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University researcher’s media freedom censorship and
hate propaganda, he explains there's a fake side to the fake news phenomenon.

The fake side surfaces when leaders say that they're very worried about the fake news phenomenon but in
fact what they're really worried about is legitimate responsible media saying things that they don't like and
that needs to be distinguished from the genuine problem of a news which is more like industrial-scale lying
the use of robots control the setting up of fake news websites and so on that are really concerted efforts to
mislead the public and to subvert public opinion and democracy and this is a serious problem that I think
requires attention from you know internet platforms to citizens journalists and so on. Cherian Goerge,
Professor in the Department of Journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University

How serious is the problem exactly a 20-17 study by us-based Human Rights watchdog Freedom House finds that out of
65 countries 30 governments deploy some form of manipulation to distort online information. In China around 450 million
fabricated social media posts are used to distract the people from issues hounding the government every year. Russia is
under fire for interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections by manipulating discussions and spreading fake news. The
Freedom House report claims governments like turkey Venezuela and the Philippines all use cyber armies to manipulate
discussions drive state agendas and combat critics on social media. Despite this, the Philippine government denies using
these methods. How then will people be assured that government money is being used to combat fake news and not for
this information?

Let me stated that no government funds are used for misinformation government funds are used to
disseminate government information period. – Kris Ablan, Assistant Secretary, Presidential
Communication Operations Office

It's clear the problem is widespread serious and global what is the response of social media platforms like Facebook
not much and when they finally did act it was too little too late as early. As August 2016 Reza tells Facebook about her
observations in the Philippines after she was alarmed by the use and spread of hateful comments before and after the
elections she asks the Silicon Valley powerhouse to do something about it.
 It's methodical and then like as a joke you've got to look at this because U.S. elections are coming up and
you know I said you know if you're not careful Trump could win and everyone laughed because at that point
it seemed laughable right and then after he won in November they came back and asked me for the data
again. – Maria Resa, CEO of Rappler

Facebook's first response to allegations that their platform was used by foreign agents to influence the U.S. elections
was to deny it. But as more evidence surface Facebook is eventually forced to acknowledge the role it's played. Facebook
pledges to solve the problem tweaking their algorithms and launching tools to combat false information other tech companies
like Twitter and Google also have their own measures to stop the spread of this information. By 2018 Facebook announces
a hotly debated solution to the problem they're changing the algorithm to give public content less visibility and will be asking
their community to wrap publications and a scale of trust worthiness but in a world where people can't distinguish fake from
real news but asking consumers really solve anything or will it only add fuel to the fire? One thing is clear while the world
waits for the platforms to solve the problem there are changes we need to push for.

Our citizens and ourselves as educators as journalists and so on need to be reminded that democracy is
more than just a numbers game it's not just popularity that counts it's not just a number of lights you get
there is still a difference between right and wrong they're still principles by equality and human rights that
need to be fought for it doesn't matter if president is popular if he's wrong he's wrong. It doesn't matter if
the journalists don't have the masses on their side in there right they still deserve support. - Cherian
Goerge, Professor in the Department of Journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University

Remembering this very essence of democracy is crucial respect for diversity this is where ordinary citizens like the Castro
come in to help.

I believe we should go to the root level which is to read educate our to educate our people it goes to their
belief system it goes to their schools their families to you know mold them into to have these misogynistic
behaviors so it's gonna take a really long time but I have hope. – Nicole De Castro, Law Student

For now the hope is with awareness of online users comes vigilance over the sources of information they consume and
share. So the next time you see a story or a comment or a post online think twice do your part in ensuring you are not a
victim or a perpetrator of the problem Natacha Figueres Rappler Manila

TANDAAN MO! MAIPAPASA NATIN ANG

ONLINE CLASS NATO. WALANG
MAIIWAN! GOD BLESS US ALL! 