16 hours ago
1
MANILA, Philippines — News that Rodrigo Duterte was arrested over a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) sent Filipinos into a frenzy — especially online.
The arrest, which happened on the morning of March 11, was welcomed by critics of his war on drugs, but protested by his loyal supporters.
A flood of false claims followed, prompting various fact-checks from newsrooms and journalists. On the other hand, pro-Duterte users exploited paid ads, entertainment networks, and copy-pasted attacks to show their support for the former president.
Duterte-related content also spiked in video platforms. In the first week since the arrest, over 1,600 YouTube channels shared a total of over 3,000 videos mentioning the former president. This comes as no surprise. With 57.7 million users in the country, YouTube remains a popular online platform in the Philippines.
Beyond its popularity, YouTube also brings in big bucks to content creators on the platform. DataReportal’s Digital 2025 report for the Philippines said YouTube’s advertising reach was equivalent to nearly half of the country’s total population. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) even sought to investigate YouTubers who weren’t paying taxes from the money they earned from the platform.
So how much could a YouTube channel earn from posting harmful content — such as false claims and harassment — about the Duterte-ICC issue? The Nerve looked into the top YouTube channels posting disinformation and/or attacks related to Duterte’s ICC arrest shared from March 11 to 17, the first full week since news of his arrest broke.
The Nerve estimated that these channels could potentially earn up to P20,000 a day from monetizing their content on YouTube.
These channels promoted narratives that the former president was unlawfully arrested as well as fake quotes from alleged pro-Duterte figures. They also attacked erstwhile Duterte ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as well as members of the media.
How does monetization on YouTube work?
YouTubers can access monetization features on the platform through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Provided that users follow the platform’s monetization policies, users can become eligible for YPP if they have at least 1,000 subscribers, and either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
When YouTubers join YPP, they can view their revenue reports, which include statistics on Revenue Per Mille (RPM), a YouTube metric that represents creator earnings per 1,000 video views. Creator RPMs can fluctuate and vary from one another, as RPM is based on several revenue sources, such as ads, channel memberships, and YouTube Premium revenue.
Because RPMs vary per creator, YouTube earnings can only be estimated using given ranges. To generate rough estimates for how much YouTube channels can earn from the platform, The Nerve used analytics website Social Blade’s YouTube Money Calculator, which assumes an RPM range of $0.25 (P14.29) to $4.00 (P228.68).
The Nerve then filtered YouTube channels in their dataset based on YPP’s eligibility requirements, and computed each channel’s average daily views from March 11 to 17.
These estimates calculated by The Nerve only represent potential creator earnings from monetized videos related to Duterte during the given period. It’s possible that these channels earn more money from sources beyond monetization, as RPM is also only one metric that YouTubers can use to determine their revenue.
Outside RPM, YouTubers can also earn money from selling merchandise, other brand deals and sponsorships, and any other revenue sources generated indirectly through YouTube.
What narratives were these channels promoting?
Among the channels that posted videos about Duterte’s arrest from March 11 to 17, over 900 were eligible for YPP and monetization on the platform. The Nerve zoomed into the top channels that had at least 1,000 followers and over 1,000 average daily views on these videos.
From this list, we identified 32 channels that spread falsehoods and promoted hateful narratives against the ICC, the Marcoses, and the media. Some of these channels, including Robin Sweet Showbiz and I am Shanwein, have been previously fact-checked by Rappler.
The most popular narrative among these channels challenged the legality of Duterte’s arrest, claiming that it lacked a valid warrant, that it was unlawful, or that it was a “kidnapping” — with the goal of fueling distrust in the ICC. Twelve of the 32 channels posted videos about these claims.
UNLAWFUL? YouTube creators claim that Duterte’s arrest was illegal. The Nerve screenshotsEight channels posted videos that attacked the Marcoses, with some of them spreading the false claim that First Lady Liza Marcos was detained in the US and that Duterte’s arrest was a mere cover-up for it.
DETENTION CLAIMS. YouTube videos spread the false narrative that First Lady Liza Marcos was detained in the US. The Nerve screenshotsSix other channels posted videos that amplified several false claims already debunked by fact-checkers, including the lie that US President Donald Trump expressed support for Duterte. They also used misrepresented videos to falsely depict global rallies of support for the former president.
Four other channels targeted the media, a common tactic used by the Duterte social army to discredit independent reporting and undermine trust in legitimate news organizations.
‘FAKE NEWS’. YouTube creators attack members of the Philippine media to discredit independent journalism. The Nerve screenshotsYouTube videos are only eligible for monetization if they, of course, abide by the platform’s Community Guidelines. Advocates have previously criticized YouTube’s parent company Google for profiting from monetized disinformation, particularly lies on the climate crisis.
“Disinformation persists because it’s profitable, and Big Tech needs to remove that incentive,” said Erika Seiber, climate disinformation spokesperson for international nonprofit Friends of the Earth. — with reports from Gillian Uy/Rappler.com
$1 = P57.169
Decoded is a Rappler series that explores the challenges and opportunities that come with living in transformative times. It is produced by The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative & network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.
