Duterte warns Facebook against blocking Philippine government messages after fake accounts removed
- Facebook on September 22 dismantled a network of fake accounts that originated in China and the Philippines, including some that criticised the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing
- Platforms such as Facebook have become political battlegrounds and have helped strengthen Duterte’s support, having been instrumental in his 2016 election
“Facebook, listen to me,” Duterte said in a late-night televised address on Monday. “We allow you to operate here hoping that you could help us. Now, if government cannot espouse or advocate something which is for the good of the people, then what is your purpose here in my country?”
Philippines: fake accounts shut down by Facebook promoted Duterte, China
Facebook linked some of the fake accounts in the Philippines to the military and the police, although they denied being the account holders.
But the military later said it regretted the decision of Facebook to remove a page that belonged to a group of parents that raised awareness about the recruitment machinery of the communists. The conflict between the government and the NPA has raged since 1968 and has killed tens of thousands.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines had inquired if Facebook could restore the page called “Hands off Our Children”, its spokesman said last week, because its advocacy was something the military “shares and advances”.
“What would be the point of allowing you to continue if you can’t help us? We are not advocating mass destruction, we are not advocating massacre. It’s a fight of ideas,” Duterte said. “If you are promoting the cause of the rebellion … if you cannot reconcile the idea of what your purpose is or was, then we have to talk.”
Facebook said the fake accounts were dismantled because they had engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”.
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Platforms like Facebook have become political battlegrounds and have helped strengthen Duterte’s support base, having been instrumental in his election victory in 2016.
“Is there life after Facebook? I don’t know,” Duterte said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Tuesday said Duterte had no plans to ban Facebook in the Philippines, noting that both users and the platform would be disadvantaged by such a move.
“It won’t be good for Facebook and the Philippines,” Roque said. “We are number one in the world who use Facebook. If we are removed from the platform, it will be a loss to Facebook.”
