Duterte Lashes Out at Facebook After It Takes Down Fake Accounts

“You know, Facebook, insurgency is about overturning the government,” Mr. Duterte said. “What would be the point of allowing you to continue if you cannot help us? We are not advocating mass destruction, we are not advocating mass massacre. It’s a fight of ideas.”

On Tuesday, the military issued a statement saying that Facebook “could be the medium that will help consolidate people’s support to their armed forces as their true protectors and defenders of the state against its enemies.”

A spokesman for Mr. Duterte, Harry Roque, said the government considered Facebook’s move “a form of censorship,” adding, “We are not conceding these are fake accounts.”

Facebook said the Philippine network was brought to its attention by civil society groups and by Rappler, an independent news site that has helped Facebook identify misinformation.

Mr. Duterte has issued threats against executives at Rappler and at the broadcast network ABS-CBN, both of which have been at the forefront of reporting about his drug war. Rappler’s co-founder Maria Ressa was convicted in June of libeling a businessman by alleging that he had ties to the drug underworld, and she still faces several other charges, including tax evasion. Ms. Ressa, who is free on bail, has denied all of the charges, calling them attempts by the government to silence her.

ABS-CBN has been effectively shut down, with the House of Representatives, dominated by allies of Mr. Duterte, having refused to renew its broadcast license. Its beleaguered chairman stepped down last week.

Danilo Arao, an associate professor of journalism at the state-run University of the Philippines, said the president’s comments Monday had made it clear that social media companies now risked official retaliation along with government critics.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/business/rodrigo-duterte-facebook-philippines.html