FAKE ACCOUNTS, BOT NETWORKS: Foreign trolls are shaping what Filipinos see online, experts warn

By Juliane Judilla

A forum examining the growing challenge of foreign information manipulation and interference in the Philippines was held on March 16 at the Audio-Visual Hall of West Visayas State University, bringing together journalists, experts, and students to discuss how coordinated information campaigns shape today’s digital information landscape.

Organized by the WVSU Development Communicators’ Society in partnership with Daily Guardian, Internews, and the Development Communication Division of the WVSU College of Communication, the event featured insights from experts working at the front lines of journalism and disinformation research.

Among the speakers were Janina Santos, Cristina Chi, and Felipe Salvosa III, who examined how foreign information manipulation and interference operates and how it influences public opinion, political discourse, and democratic processes.

Foreign information manipulation and interference, commonly known as FIMI, refers to coordinated, intentional efforts by foreign state or nonstate actors to manipulate public discourse in another country through deceptive means, including fake social media accounts, bot networks, and AI-generated content. Unlike traditional propaganda, FIMI campaigns are designed to appear organic and locally produced, making them harder to detect.

Santos, from DoubleThink Lab, defined FIMI as a “manipulative, intentional, and coordinated non-illegal pattern of behavior that negatively impacts values, procedures, and political processes.”

She presented a case study following a Reuters exposé published in July 2024 about a United States information operations campaign in the Philippines aimed at undermining China’s COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Santos, after the report was released, a wave of AI-generated images condemning the United States began circulating online.

These visuals were posted by suspicious accounts and eventually spread across multiple platforms, including X, Medium, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and Ameba.

Santos emphasized the role of young people in countering such campaigns.

“FIMI must be addressed through a whole-of-society approach. The youth must not be relegated as a bystander in this effort. If we ever hope to win, you must become an active partner and a leader in this effort,” she said.

Chi, a journalist from Philstar.com, shared her experiences covering foreign information campaigns while reporting on diplomatic and foreign affairs.

She highlighted investigations that uncovered coordinated attempts to push misleading narratives online, including cases involving Chinese accounts promoting a Philippine “civil war” narrative and bot networks spreading disinformation targeting Vietnam while supporting former President Rodrigo Duterte on X.

Chi said such reports reveal how coordinated networks exploit social media to amplify false or misleading claims and manipulate public conversations.

Salvosa of PressOne.PH discussed how both domestic and foreign actors are increasingly conducting information operations that threaten the country’s information ecosystem.

He noted that research and investigative reports in recent years have documented how coordinated campaigns attempt to manipulate public opinion, disrupt democratic processes, and advance geopolitical or ideological interests.

“These operations show sophisticated strategies used to capture public attention and manipulate opinions through seemingly organic, locally produced content,” Salvosa explained.

He added that information operations in the Philippines go beyond spreading false information.

They also deploy hyperpartisan narratives designed to mobilize audiences, shape political discourse, and potentially influence elections.

The Philippines has been identified in multiple international studies as one of the most vulnerable countries in Southeast Asia to information manipulation, owing to its high social media usage rates, politically polarized online environment, and strategic significance in the geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China.

The forum concluded with a call for stronger collaboration among journalists, researchers, educators, and the public — particularly the youth — to strengthen media literacy and resilience against information manipulation in the digital age.