Senator Leila De Lima has asked the Senate to investigate reports from overseas sources that pro-Duterte online “troll armies” are paid using public funds.
Senate Resolution No. 401 filed by De Lima directs the appropriate Senate committees to verify reports that the government allegedly operates “troll farms” to manipulate public discourse by spreading fake news.
“[There is a need] to conduct an inquiry into the reports of public funds being spent to pay and maintain online trolls to distort and manipulate online information in various social media platforms in order to influence public opinion and political outcomes,” she said.
De Lima said the troll armies are being led by bloggers and social media personalities that have been appointed in various government posts for supporting Duterte. Some of them are still “admins” of blogs and social media pages that are known to propagate fake news, she added.
The Belgium-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused the administration in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index published early this year of using call center hubs to spread “fake or maliciously edited content and fake memes”, used for targeted harassment campaigns.
A 2017 report from the University of Oxford claimed that Duterte administration spent around $200,000 to hire trolls to spread propaganda and to target Duterte’s political opponents.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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