Screenshot from Facebook blog.
The chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) stressed that their social media accounts have always been compliant with Facebook’s policies, after the social media giant took down social media accounts and pages that were allegedly connected to both the AFP and PNP.
AFP chief General Gilbert Gapay explained during a joint press conference that the military does not support uploading fake news, and made-up social media accounts. He also added that the existing official accounts of both departments are still “up and running.”
“I would just like to inform everyone that all the official accounts of the Armed Forces are up and running… hindi naman sila nakasama doon sa mga na-take down,” Gapay said.
Gapay also said that the recent move of Facebook urged the AFP leadership to observe the personal accounts of their people while also reminding them to follow the etiquette in using their social media.
“We’re looking into personal accounts actually… baka ito rin ‘yung tinutukoy ng Facebook Philippines. Baka personal accounts din ‘yung kasama dito, just the same, we will be looking into that,” Gapay said.
“Okay lang naman kasi ‘yan basta we follow the rules… parang kalsada din ‘yan eh, you can use whenever you want as long as you follow traffic rules. Ganoon din naman sa social media,” he added.
Meanwhile, PNP chief Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan has sworn that the police force will continue to comply with the institutional policy which promotes observance of cyber etiquette and proper decorum in all public engagements including social media platforms, chat groups, and private sites.
“We also recognize that social media is an effective tool that technology can offer, especially at this period of health emergency, to establish proactive information and awareness activities as well as harmonious relationships with communities,” Cascolan said.
He also highlighted that the official Facebook accounts of the PNP, including its lower units remain compliant with the standards.
“Thus, all comments and opinions of individual personnel, associations and sectoral groups on matters that are not related to the organization’s activities are hereby disowned by the PNP as unofficial and unauthorized,” he said.
Cascolan, on the other hand, also clarified that the PNP respects the administrative move of Facebook.
Both chiefs were reacting to Facebook’s social media purge on Wednesday morning saying that the social media giant had shut down a disinformation network linked with the two uniformed services.
According to Facebook, the Philippine network that was purged included 57 Facebook accounts, 31 Pages, and 20 Instagram accounts which catered to a Philippine audience.
Facebook added that some 276,000 accounts followed one or more of these fages and about 5,500 people followed one or more of the offending Instagram accounts. These pages network spent around $1,100 for ads on Facebook, which was paid for in Philippine pesos, according to Facebook.
The social media giant revealed that the network has violated the company’s existing policy “against foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity” and had reported links to the Philippine military or Philippine police.
Facebook said the network appeared to have accelerated between 2019 and 2020, with posts made in English and Filipino about the following topics:
- local news and events including domestic politics
- military activities against terrorism
- the anti-terrorism bill
- criticism of communism
- youth activists and opposition
- the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing the New People’s Army
- the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
However, Facebook did not provide a list of accounts or pages in its report. RJ Espartinez