Exclusive restaurant accounts drive Duterte’s praise, now targeting the Philippines election
Poppy McPherson
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A complex network of fake social media accounts emerged to seek to defend former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after he was sent to the International Criminal Court to file charges against his bloody war on drugs.
According to a study shared by a technology company with Reuters, about one-third of accounts discussed the arrests on X, mainly praising Duterte and blasting the court, which was forged.
It says the behavior of these accounts makes it difficult for them to distinguish them from real people.
Israel-based Cyabra said this positive misinformation has now begun to shape the discourse of the midterm elections in Southeast Asian countries next month.
Its findings echo the warnings issued by Filipino lawmakers and researchers and indicate that in a country known as “Zero Zero”, increasingly complex and “seamless” manipulations to achieve global disinformation.
In another upcoming study, Reuters also saw up to 45% of the discussion about the election – a showdown between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Duterte’s camps – powered by unreal accounts, including sock puppets, avatars, robots.
“What we’re finding in the Philippines is not just a spike in false information – it’s a digital warfare,” said Cyabra’s CEO Dan Brahmy.
“These fake networks aren’t just showing conversations,” Brami said. The election-related account added that it could get about 54 million views.
“And if that happens obviously in the Philippines, it’s naive to think that it’s not happening elsewhere either.”
The company said it did not track the origins of fake accounts, although it may be a source. A spokesperson for the Marcos administration and Duterte did not respond to a request for comment.
“Digital Black Ops”
According to Cyabra, the “coordinated disinformation” seen in the Philippines is much higher than the typical 7%-10% range of online conversations on issues of “highly sensitive or polarization.”
The study found that 16% of X accounts involving December elections in Romania were false for alleging that Russian intervention was cancelled.
In the Philippines, using fake accounts and paid influencers to conduct political action is broad, with multiple political parties turning to the “click army” to help Duterte take office as president in 2016.
Analysts saw the sign of a troll army in the days after their arrest last month, when a surge in false claims swept through social media, supporting people claiming that the ICC has no jurisdiction, saying its “kidnapping” was “kidnapping” and harassing the victims.
Duterte’s 2016-2022 presidency was defined by the anti-drug action by the former mayor of the crime, which Philippine police say killed 6,200 suspects.
Cyabra said its machine learning can identify fake accounts through behavioral signals, analyzing 1,890 profiles, which generated more than 5,500 posts and comments about X’s arrest.
About a third of them are tagged as fakes, responsible for more than 1,300 posts generating more than 7,000 engagements, including LIKES, comments and stocks, which could reach more than 11.8 million views, the company said.
Cyabra said the accounts were released simultaneously and coordinated with the promotion of activity spikes, the same content and the same hashtags and narratives.
“What the pretend profile produces reveals a clear goal: to support public support for Rodrigo Duterte and shape his sympathetic, legacy-oriented narrative of his arrest,” the company said.
Seamless mix
Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit said the wave of support for the pro-Industry narrative is strengthening the narrative of his kidnap by the International Criminal Court.
“No society can see false information, but we need to be a country to fight it,” he said.
Duterte was arrested in Manila at the request of the International Criminal Court and was accused of being murdered during a drug crackdown as a crime against humanity, which has drawn condemnation around the world.
The former president has not yet pleaded guilty and confirmed the charges planned for Sept. 23. In a Facebook post after the arrest, Duterte said: “I will be responsible for everything.”
The arrest marks a surprising change in the fate of the influential Duterte family, who formed a strong alliance with Marcos to help him serve as vice president with Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, to win the 2022 election with huge profits.
But the two were later painfully affected, with analysts seeing the midterm elections where more than 18,200 seats will be fought for, a proxy battle between them.
Cyabra’s research found that the spread of fake profiles discusses polls and expresses views across the political spectrum. Between January 1 and March 10, 37% of the 2,154 profiles the company inspected were fake.
Of the 3,033 profiles of the government-supported coalition, the company determined that about 45% were fake.
These profiles “strategically linked to expand each other’s content”, create “a broad fantasy of public support or opposition” and explode with coordinated interactions, published at a frequency that is possible.
Cyabra said many fake profiles interact with real accounts, allowing them to “integrate seamlessly into the discussion,” interact with journalists, participate in debates and respond in real time.
“If you’re just scrolling, there’s no obvious giveaway – they’re meant to blend.”
(Poppy McPherson’s report in Bangkok; other reports in Manila by Karen Lema; editor of Saad Sayeed)
