Facebook removes fake accounts in PH with links to military, police

Facebook has reported that it has removed fake Facebook and Instagram accounts with links to the Philippine military and police for coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB).

According to Facebook, the accounts were from two separate networks, one from China and one from the Philippines. The social media giant said that the people behind the activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts as a central part of their operations to mislead people about who they are and what they are doing.

The activity originated in China focused primarily on the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the United States. The connected activity relied on fake accounts and VPNs to pose as locals in countries they targeted, post in Groups, amplify their own content, manage Pages, and like and comment on other people’s posts.

The topics involved the naval activity in the South China Sea including US Navy ships, Hong Kong, content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sarah Duterte’s potential run in the 2022 Presidential election, criticism of Rappler, issues relevant to OFWs, praise, and criticism of China, and US presidential elections.

For this network, Facebook removed 155 accounts, 11 Pages, 9 Groups, and 6 Instagram accounts for violating Facebook’s policy against foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.

For the network originated in the Philippines, it focused on domestic audiences and posted in Filipino and English about local news and events including domestic politics, military activities against terrorism, pending anti-terrorism bill, criticism of communism, youth activists and opposition, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Facebook says that although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, their investigation found links to the Philippine military and Philippine police.

For this network, Facebook removed 57 accounts, 31 Pages, and 20 Instagram accounts.

source: Facebook