Duterte questions letting Facebook stay after accounts shut
President Rodrigo Duterte questioned why he should allow Facebook to continue operating in the Philippines after the social media giant removed accounts he said backed his government's interests, including fighting insurgents. Facebook said last week it had removed a Philippine network of fake accounts whose operators tried to conceal their identities and used “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” to mislead people. Duterte did not specify which Facebook accounts he meant.
- Country:
- Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte questioned why he should allow Facebook to continue operating in the Philippines after the social media giant removed accounts he said backed his government's interests, including fighting insurgents. Facebook said last week it had removed a Philippine network of fake accounts whose operators tried to conceal their identities and used “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” to mislead people.
Duterte did not specify which Facebook accounts he meant. He said he had not thought of specific steps to take on the issue, though he sought a meeting with the American company in his rambling, televised remarks Monday night on a range of topics. “You know, Facebook, insurgency is about overturning government,” Duterte said.
“What would be the point of allowing you to continue if you cannot help us?” “If you cannot help me protect government interest, then let us talk. We may or we may not find the solution. If we cannot, then I'm sorry,” Duterte said. Facebook said in its announcement last week that its investigation into the fake, misleading content “found links to Philippine military and Philippine police” behind them.
The Philippine military and police, however, said not one of their official Facebook pages and accounts were removed. Military chief of staff Gilbert Gapay said an account of a military-backed private group called “Hands Off Our Children,” which campaigns against the recruitment of students and children by communist guerrillas, was removed, and he asked that the account be reinstated.
“Their grievances are legitimate, and their calls urgent,” Gapay said, adding that the “arbitrary shutdown” of the account undermined the efforts of a group of parents, who were raising awareness “on the vulnerability of children at the hands of communist front organisations.” Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte was among those opposed to Facebook's shutdown of the account of the group, which campaigns against the recruitment of children as combatants. Critics have separately accused Duterte's camp of covertly maintaining fake social media accounts to show support to the president and undermine his critics in a country with one of the largest numbers of Facebook users in Asia. Duterte allies have denied the allegations.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Rodrigo Duterte
- Philippines
- Gilbert Gapay
- Harry Roque
- Asia
ALSO READ
Philippines' former first lady Imelda Marcos set to leave hospital
ICC has no authority to probe Philippines, Marcos tells Germany's Scholz
Jaishankar to embark on official visit to Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia from March 23-27
EAM Jaishankar embarks on 5-day diplomatic visit to Singapore, Philippines, and Malaysia
Philippines says sovereignty is key in South China Sea talks