Rise of Trolls in the Philippines
Fake news or disinformation have been prevalent considering the vast advancements in social media and technology. It is the spreading of faulty or fallacious news that is not backed up with factual sources. On the other hand, trolls are fake accounts which aim to fuel disagreement or hatred towards another user. In some cases, the fake accounts are also used to spread fake news or articles. In the context of Philippine elections, politicians utilize social media directors in order to boost their publicity in social media. This blog will be focusing on the use of troll accounts during election campaigns.
Trolling in the Context of Philippine Elections
Senator Grace Poe allegedly hired trolls which helped boost her marketability in social media. Other users claimed that there is a pattern and correlation between the use of troll accounts and their electoral standing. The Senator sustained the first spot in the Pulse Asia senatorial preference survey, presumably through her online standing.
An University of Oxford study entitled “Troops, trolls and troublemakers: A global inventory of organized social media manipulation” found that the amount used for the purchases of trolls to promote publicity of President Rodrigo Duterte as well as to target the opposition is approximately P10 million (Matsuzawa, 2017). This may have greatly influenced the results and mindset of the public regarding the decision on the election.
Some Facebook users reputedly state that these are examples of troll accounts or fake pages which are used to spread the propaganda of the political candidate. It can be observed that captions are all fairly similar to each other which increased the suspicion that these may be fake accounts which are managed by cyber troops.
Personal Reflection
Personally, the rise of disinformation and trolls is highly alarming as the influence of social media can significantly affect the mindset of users. Thus, politicians utilizing this strategy provides them the power to alter or modify the views and opinions of the public in the perspective of how they want to be perceived. This merely states that the appointment or election of politicians is beyond the control of the public. With all these deceptive motives, it clouds the judgement of the people and is provided with an unflawed and exemplary image instead of an authentic and undisputed origin of the candidate. Therefore, there should be steps taken in order to eliminate the rise of fake news and trolls.
References:
Alt GovPH [AltGovPH]. (2018, November 3). Twitter. https://twitter.com/AltGovPH/status/1058626483709796352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1058626483709796352%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finteraksyon.philstar.com%2Fpolitics-issues%2F2018%2F11%2F05%2F137433%2Fon-trolls-and-disinformation-the-social-media-landscape-of-elections%2F
Bradshaw, S., & Howard, P. (2017). Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation. https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/07/Troops-Trolls-and-Troublemakers.pdf
[Oras Na, Roxas Na]. (2017, July 27). Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/0rasNaR0xasNa/photos/buhay-na-buhay-ang-troll-center-na-ginamit-ni-rodrigo-duterte-at-nakauto-ng-mahi/1921502558120551/
Malasig, J. (2018, November 5). On trolls and disinformation: The social media landscape of elections. Interaksyon. https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2018/11/05/137433/on-trolls-and-disinformation-the-social-media-landscape-of-elections/
