Detained
opposition senator Leila De Lima is calling on her colleagues to craft a law
that would addressed “troll armies” that tends to “distort and manipulate”
public discourse in the country.
Through a Senate Resolution No.401, De Lima is calling for
the immediate investigation by the appropriate Senate committees in
verification of the veracity of several studies abroad explaining how the
current Duterte administration’s allege organized and operation of troll farms to
“parrot political propaganda” using fake or misleading information.
“[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,” the senator, one of the staunchest critics of President Rodrigo Duterte said.
“[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,” the senator, one of the staunchest critics of President Rodrigo Duterte said.
Detained opposition senator Leila De Lima (photo credit to owner) |
“It is against the interests of our country to
fund online trolls who manipulate online discussions on national issues for
political ends. These funds are better spent on education, alleviating poverty
and improving our healthcare system,” she added.
The opposition senator cited the 2020 World Press Freedom Index published by Belgium-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the University of Oxford report in 2017, and the report from US-based human rights group Freedom House.
Basically
all of the three alleges that President is funding a group of people that acts
as a troll army which its sole purpose is to shame degrade all the political
enemies of the administration.
Like
for the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) they claim Duterte uses “call center
hubs” to disseminate “fake or maliciously edited content and fake memes” for
targeted harassment campaigns against any political enemies.
For
the University of Oxford they claim a $200,000 has been used by the Duterte
administration to hire “trolls” to spread propaganda against all the political
enemies of the President.
And
lastly for the Freedom house, which says the Duterte government pay P500 a day
per troll which sole job is to operate fake social media accounts supporting President
Duterte and attacking those who are considered critical to his administration.
These “troll armies,” De Lima claimed in her resolution “are being led by bloggers and social media personalities that have been appointed in various government posts for their rabid support of Mr. Duterte.”
De Lima adds that some of them are “admins” of of blogs and social media pages that are known to propagate fake news
“With the seemingly consistent findings of various studies of state-backed ‘troll armies’ in the Philippines, it is imperative for Congress to verify the integrity of these reports and probe if any appropriated government funds are used to maintain and pay online trolls by various bloggers and social media personalities with their capacity as appointed officials in various government agencies or by the President himself under various discretionary budgets under his office,” the senator said.
“Manipulation of public opinion through
misinformation diminishes the level and quality of our national conversation
and is ultimately detrimental to our democracy,” she added.
What can you say about
this?
Share us your thoughts by simply leaving on the comment
section below. For more news updates, feel free to visit our site often.
Stay
updated with today's relevant news and trends by hitting the LIKE button.
Thanks
for dropping by and reading this post.
Report from PDI
Disclaimer:
Contributed articles does not reflect the view of THE PH CHRONICLES. This website cannot guarantee
the legitimacy of some of the information contributed to us. You may do additional
research if you find some information doubtful. No part of this
article maybe reproduced without permission from this website.
0 Comments