MANILA – The months leading up to the Philippines’s presidential campaign in February were marked by a social media upheaval, including TikTok, where a youth challenge was released that recorded the reaction of their elders as they played “New” Society – a hymn related to martial law under ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. It was a period that led the country into debt, saw thousands of political enemies gather and suffer, and provoked a mass uprising of the “People’s Power” in 1986 against the excesses and corruption of the Markos family. But the elderly Filipinos did not shudder or back down. Instead, they shook their heads, sang and paraded as they laughed behind the camera. Some even greeted. “I tried this trend on my father and it is legal,” a girl wrote in a video with her father parading. More than three decades after the popular revolution overthrew Elder Mark, his 64-year-old son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., has been close to the presidency, leading in opinion polls for the May election. Its popularity has benefited from a long, carefully designed campaign to rewrite history, harnessing the power of social media to blur the line between reality and fantasy. Why cunning internet trolls in the Philippines may come to a site near you As social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter play cat and mouse with tuned keyboard warriors spreading misinformation, supporting political clients or tarnishing their opponents, historic whitewashing is finding new homes. Propaganda of Marcos is now multiplying on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube targeting mainly Gen Z, ushering in a new era of fun, modern, glossy content that is more difficult to set up online. In the world war against the truth, the Philippines is particularly vulnerable. About 99 percent of its population is online and more than half find it difficult to detect fake news. President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016 with the help of an army of keyboards and online hate campaigns, forever changing the internet landscape. Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Resa, who has called for the technology platform to be held accountable not only in the West but around the world, says the situation is more urgent than ever. “If these social media platforms do not put [up] “If they allow equal treatment of events and lies, they will push us off the cliff and we will lose our democracy,” Ressa warned in an interview. The old dictatorship is now being upgraded and modernized, with songs and emoji. Through the power of social media, one of the most despised families in the Philippines is being restored into one of the most respected families. “Bongbong Marcos is like Marcos the Elder being raised from the dead,” said historian Alfred McCoy, a historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who documented Marcos’s dictatorship. “He is a substitute for his father.” A spokesman for Marcos Jr. did not respond to a request for comment. After two decades of rampant corruption and human rights abuses, a popular uprising forced the first family to flee to Hawaii in 1986. (Video: Regine Cabato, Jason Aldag / The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post) Researchers have found that Marcoses’s online revision plan dates back to the 2000s through the family’s presence on Friendster, Flickr and other inactive sites. The key to the message is that the family has been unjustly abused, that President Ferdinand Marcos was not a corrupt kleptocrat, but one who brought glory, wealth and infrastructure to his country during his two decades in power, degrading human rights violations during this period. period. Trying to rewrite history ranges from serious to absurd. At Wikipedia, members of the Philippine Wiki Society – a group of volunteer editors who follow country-related pages – are at the forefront of the information battle, routinely thwarting efforts to change the content of Marcoses pages. The main focus during the year was the words “dictator” and “kleptocratic”, which users tried to delete dozens of times. Wikipedia volunteers are sometimes in “processing wars,” going back and forth with Marcos’s defenders for hours in hopes of establishing the truth. “Wikipedia has rules and because [it] “It has rules, it’s kind of the last safe place on the Internet where you can not just promote your story,” said Remi De Leon, a volunteer author. Administrators have also tagged Marcos Sr. pages. and Jr. as “semi-protected”, which means that anonymous and new users can not edit them without approval.
Cute, catchy and misleading “Bagong Lipunan” is the anthem of the New Society Movement founded by Ferdinand Marcos and played during martial law in the Philippines. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post) Misinformation has pushed to other fronts, where unlike Wikipedia, no citations or proofs are required. YouTube and TikTok follow Facebook as the top sources of online misinformation, according to the Tsek.ph. Among the most widespread lies are allegations that no arrests were made under Marcus’s martial law and that no charges were brought against Marcos’s family in court. YouTube is riddled with conspiracies linked to the Philippines – from claims that French astrologer Nostradamus predicted the presidency of Marcos Jr. to a widespread story that the Marcos family inherited tons of gold, which will be redistributed if they return to the kingdom. At TikTok, with its time limits, the content is shorter and more intense in how it glorifies and romanticizes the Markos family. Archive photos and videos are framed with music and captions for fun and sympathy, such as the placement of Ferdinand Sr.’s photos. in Madonna’s “Material Girl” or the combination of news of his wife, Imelda, crying with a crying emoji. Philippine campaign general Alan Germain, who heads Agents International Public Relations, says the platform has been particularly effective with Filipino voters, who choose candidates who will excite and entertain – “the guys who make noise”. he said. “They literally dance and sing on our ballot.”
Troll farms and influences Numerous studies and reports detail how Duterte’s use of social media helped silence critics amid a bloody drug war and a sad response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Marcos family will now benefit from this model, especially as Duterte’s daughter, Sarah Duterte-Carpio, is running for vice president alongside Marcos Jr. – unifying their online networks. Since 2016, troll companies have become more adept at bypassing rejections for coordinated non-authentic behavior. They are no longer doing the copy-pasting work that Duterte’s supporters have seen in the past, said Germanos, the campaign general. Instead, they act like real people, maintain personalized accounts, share photos and videos, and join groups. The modern troll network is run by a coordinator and functions as a call center, he explained. A facilitator notifies his staff — usually 10 people, each of whom can handle dozens of accounts — of the day’s agenda, such as news to react to or criticism to stop. Others rely on micro-influencers or “key public opinion leaders” who have a few thousand followers. They are selected by candidates based on socio-economic class, age and location, depending on the demographics that the political client must reach. The purchase price is 4 to 6 cents per like, follower or subscriber. An influencer with 10,000 followers could earn between $ 5,800 and $ 6,800 on a monthly basis during the campaign period, said German – more than 10 times the average salary of a teacher. A digital creator shared a job offer sent by an agent for a “political candidate” to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue. This involved running a Facebook page and posting material every day, with “seeded” messages from the agency. “You will be coordinating with one of my partners to exchange ideas for designs, but the rest is based on your creativity to create content,” the message read. “There will be minimal customer interface.”
Winning the next generation Researchers say the change in strategy – more authentic content focused on Gen Z-friendly platforms – is not just about avoiding abortions. He also deliberately speaks to the next generation, fixing the Marcos family in the hearts of the people beyond Bongbong as the next president. At the heart of the campaign is his eldest son, Ferdinand Alexander, who is running for Congress. The 27-year-old, nicknamed Sandro, is a rising star on the internet. Entire accounts are dedicated to his fans’ cameras, with photos and videos going through filters and love songs. Some posts lean on the imagination of fans, where the viewer can pretend to be in a arranged marriage with him or that they are fighting with Sandro and his brothers. 11:11 2.22.22 – I promise whatever happens. I will always be here for YOU. Thank you for inspiring me and helping me through some of the worst moments. Your smile always makes my day. I’m so proud of you in everything luviee. @ sandromarcos7 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Eo3vz4KXBn – `J (@jstinmrcs) February 22, 2022 Experts say that these posts, however, do not come only from ordinary fans but rather “people” who work for Sandro’s own family. Some indications of the authenticity of the content include the volume and pace at which they circulate and access to raw material – which include baby photos and seemingly familiar videos, such as Sandro dancing with …
