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Stock photo shows a woman on a laptop showing "fake news."
memyselfaneye / Pixabay
MANILA, Philippines — The arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte has fueled a surge of false information on social media, with thousands of Filipino online users falling victim to fake statements, unverified reports and misleading content.
Many of the false claims monitored by The STAR involve quote cards with false statements attributed to prominent figures such as US President Donald Trump.
The US President, who is said to have a good relationship with Duterte, has not issued any statement on his arrest.
“Every day since Duterte’s arrest, we have fact checked misinformation and disinformation concerning it and the ICC (International Criminal Court). Overwhelmingly, the disinformation is pro-Duterte,” Celine Samson, head of the online verification team at VERA Files, told The STAR.
“There have been fake quotes going around Facebook making it appear that public figures like Vice Ganda and Donald Trump are defending the former president. There are at least three different versions of quotes being attributed to Trump, claiming that the US will protect Duterte, or that he will impose huge tariffs if the Marcos administration does not work to get Duterte released,” she added.
One quote card even featured Saul Goodman, a fictional character from popular American crime drama series Breaking Bad, presented as a law professor supposedly voicing his support for Duterte.
Samson said there were a lot of videos being taken out of context, such as clips of huge crowds in Argentina and Serbia that have been passed off as protests in support of Duterte.
“And there are so many false narratives being spread across platforms – Facebook, TikTok and YouTube – attacking the ICC. One of the most repeated false claims is that the ICC ‘does not have jurisdiction’ over the case,” she added.
Unverified reports have also fueled speculations and conspiracy theories.
For instance, when former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea claimed Thursday that they cannot determine the location of the former president, supporters were quick to spin narratives of “secret plots” and other speculations.
In response, ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah maintained that Duterte is under ICC custody at its detention center in Scheveningen, which is located on the outskirts of The Hague.
“When a suspect arrives in ICC custody, the Court as standard practice takes measures to protect the health and well-being of the suspect… We recall the importance of respecting the integrity of the judicial process,” he added.
In Davao City, supporters of the former president flocked to his home following information that the police will conduct a raid.
The Davao City police denied the claim.
Samson advised the public to “check, check and check, before you believe anything on the internet.”
“Check your emotions. Does a post make you enraged, sad, incredibly happy? Bad actors use people’s emotions to make you click on their posts, and more clicks mean more money to them. Check your biases. Before sharing anything – even if you agree with the post – check if it’s true first. Which brings me to my last tip: fact check. Do a quick Google search to verify if something is true or not,” she added.
She encouraged the public to report false information to fact-checking organizations such as VERA Files and Tsek.ph.
