Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Monday said Filipinos were “intelligent” enough to discern information posted online as Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo warned that China could be interfering with the country’s politics through social media.
“Sa akin po, walang [reason to be concerned]. I have been a strong adherent for freedom of expression and the free market place of ideas; at ang Pilipino naman po, napakatalino na natin, hindi po lahat ng nababasa sa Facebook ay pinaniniwalaan,” Roque said in a virtual presser.
Last week, social media giant Facebook weeded out China-based accounts and pages that relied on fake accounts posing as fake citizens of target countries to post spam in groups.
READ: Palace distances itself from ‘misleading’ accounts shut down by Facebook
The purged pages posted content expressing support for Sara Duterte-Carpio’s possible presidential bid, China and criticism of news website Rappler, among others.
Robredo said she believed the accounts and suspicious activities were part of China’s attempt to meddle with the Philippines’ domestic affairs.
“Anong ginagawa ng China sa domestic affairs natin? Ito, kailangan tayo dito matakot. Kasi bakit? Ano ang interes ninyo sa eleksyon… So ito, tingin ko, nakakatakot ito kasi may kinalaman ito sa soberanya natin,” she said in her “BISErbisyong LENI” radio show on Sunday.
Roque earlier said the Duterte administration was one with the Filipino people in “advocating the truth and dismissing disinformation, lies or hatred” and expressed support for Facebook’s removal of spam accounts. John Ezekiel J. Hirro