Palace hopes Facebook to be prudent in taking down accounts

September 24, 2020

Malacanang expressed hope on Wednesday that social media site Facebook would be prudent and not partial on its actions after it shut down several fake accounts and pages, which were supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and the possible presidential bid of his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio in the 2022 elections.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Facebook’s recent action of taking down over 100 fake accounts is its own decision based on "sound judgment and discretion."

"We are one in advocating the truth and dismissing disinformation, lies or hatred," he said.

"We hope the social media giant would exercise prudence in all its actions to remove any doubt of bias given its power, influence and reach," Roque said.

According to Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher, the fake accounts were traced to individuals from China's Fujian province and most of their activities were focused on Southeast Asia.

He said the posts were in Chinese, Filipino and English about global news and current events, including Beijing's interest in the South China Sea, Hong Kong, contents supportive of Duterte and Sara Duterte's potential run in the 2022 presidential elections, criticism of Rappler, issues relevant to overseas Filipino workers, praise and some criticism to China. Celerina Monte/DMS