No pro-Marcos trolls? Fil-Am group says it found around 100 on Facebook

Davinci Maru, ABS-CBN News

<div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos Jr. visits Meycauayan, Bulacan, March 8, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/20220308-election-campaign-marcos-duterte-bulacan-md-18.jpg' ><figcaption>Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos Jr. visits Meycauayan, Bulacan, March 8, 2022.<em> Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A group of Filipino-Americans is urging Facebook to take down a network of "trolls" who they said is at the forefront of widespread disinformation in relation to the 2022 Philippine elections.</p><p>"A lot of our countrymen are being brainwashed. They have become victims of these endless lies," lawyer Loida Lewis, national chair of US Filipinos for Good Governance (USFGG), said in a forum Wednesday.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/22/election-watchdog-calls-out-marcos-for-disinformation-campaign'>Election watchdog calls out Marcos for 'disinformation' campaign</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/02/14/22/disinformation-propaganda-boosting-marcos-popularity-analyst'>Disinformation, propaganda playing a part in Marcos' popularity among low-income groups - analyst</a></li></ul><p>To combat the rampant disinformation, the group has launched TrollExposer.com, a website dedicated to exposing troll pages, accounts and groups on Facebook.</p><p>According to their research, <a href='https://trollexposer.com/troll-master-bong-bong-marcos/'>some 100 trolls</a> on the social networking site have been identified to be supporting the presidential campaign of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/05/02/22/marcos-has-biggest-facebook-footprint-since-2016'>Marcos is presidential bet with biggest Facebook footprint since 2016</a></li></ul><p>More than 700 accounts are sharing red-tagging content targeting Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo, said Liz Derr, founder of Troll Exposer.</p><p>The group said it found 118 state-sponsored trolls red-tagging left-leaning politicians and government critics.</p><div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/troll-distribution-1.jpg' ><figcaption>Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum</figcaption></figure></div><div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/troll-distribution-2.jpg' ><figcaption>Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum</figcaption></figure></div><p>"We don't know who is paying the trolls. That would be very difficult to find out," Derr said. "So we classify the trolls based on who is benefiting from their activity, and Bongbong Marcos is benefiting from the activity of the trolls that we're reporting on. So they're his."</p><p>The group started collecting publicly available data on Facebook since October last year, and they believed "there are more BBM trolls than those we are exposing here."</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/04/29/22/filipino-profs-disinformation-study-gets-200k-grant'>After his research on troll farms, Filipino professor awarded $200K Carnegie grant for next project</a></li></ul><p>Derr said Facebook has not taken action despite their repeated requests.</p><p>"We need to publish our reports in order to raise awareness of the issue and protect the people from being threatened," she said.</p><p>With the Philippine presidential elections drawing closer, the group called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take immediate action.</p><p>"How could he not, with all his wealth, find all of these trolls? It's against their own principles. You know inauthentic behavior," Lewis said.</p><p>For Eric Lachica, USFGG Washington DC Coordinator, the rampant disinformation on the social media site has led to "a poisonous and dangerous environment" against Marcos' critics and good governance leaders.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/22/leni-is-top-subject-of-disinformation-says-fact-check-group-in-senate-probe'>Leni is 'favorite' subject of disinformation, says fact-check group in Senate probe</a></li></ul><p>He said they would urge US lawmakers to investigate Facebook "for being complicit and enabling the rise of Dutertes and the political restoration of the Marcoses".</p><p>Marcos has previously denied the existence of troll farms in his campaign.</p><p>"Find me one. Hanapan mo ako kahit isa," he had said.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/05/22/find-me-one-marcos-jr-denies-troll-farms-in-campaign'>'Find me one': Marcos Jr. denies troll farms in campaign</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/20/22/bongbong-says-hes-not-spreading-fake-news'>'Wala kayong naririnig na fake news sa akin': Bongbong Marcos</a></li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></p><figure class='op-interactive'><iframe allow='autoplay; fullscreen' frameborder='0' height='100%' id='ivsplayer01' scrolling='no' src='https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&spid=3001339&vid=1779362' width='100%'></iframe></figure><div class='iwantbar'>Watch more News on <a href='https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news' target='_blank'>iWantTFC</a></div>

<p>To combat the rampant disinformation, the group has launched TrollExposer.com, a website dedicated to exposing troll pages, accounts and groups on Facebook.</p><p>According to their research, <a href='https://trollexposer.com/troll-master-bong-bong-marcos/'>some 100 trolls</a> on the social networking site have been identified to be supporting the presidential campaign of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/05/02/22/marcos-has-biggest-facebook-footprint-since-2016'>Marcos is presidential bet with biggest Facebook footprint since 2016</a></li></ul><p>More than 700 accounts are sharing red-tagging content targeting Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo, said Liz Derr, founder of Troll Exposer.</p><p>The group said it found 118 state-sponsored trolls red-tagging left-leaning politicians and government critics.</p><div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/troll-distribution-1.jpg' ><figcaption>Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum</figcaption></figure></div><div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/troll-distribution-2.jpg' ><figcaption>Screencap, US Filipinos for Good Governance forum</figcaption></figure></div><p>"We don't know who is paying the trolls. That would be very difficult to find out," Derr said. "So we classify the trolls based on who is benefiting from their activity, and Bongbong Marcos is benefiting from the activity of the trolls that we're reporting on. So they're his."</p><p>The group started collecting publicly available data on Facebook since October last year, and they believed "there are more BBM trolls than those we are exposing here."</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/04/29/22/filipino-profs-disinformation-study-gets-200k-grant'>After his research on troll farms, Filipino professor awarded $200K Carnegie grant for next project</a></li></ul><p>Derr said Facebook has not taken action despite their repeated requests.</p><p>"We need to publish our reports in order to raise awareness of the issue and protect the people from being threatened," she said.</p><p>With the Philippine presidential elections drawing closer, the group called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take immediate action.</p><p>"How could he not, with all his wealth, find all of these trolls? It's against their own principles. You know inauthentic behavior," Lewis said.</p><p>For Eric Lachica, USFGG Washington DC Coordinator, the rampant disinformation on the social media site has led to "a poisonous and dangerous environment" against Marcos' critics and good governance leaders.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/22/leni-is-top-subject-of-disinformation-says-fact-check-group-in-senate-probe'>Leni is 'favorite' subject of disinformation, says fact-check group in Senate probe</a></li></ul><p>He said they would urge US lawmakers to investigate Facebook "for being complicit and enabling the rise of Dutertes and the political restoration of the Marcoses".</p><p>Marcos has previously denied the existence of troll farms in his campaign.</p><p>"Find me one. Hanapan mo ako kahit isa," he had said.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/05/22/find-me-one-marcos-jr-denies-troll-farms-in-campaign'>'Find me one': Marcos Jr. denies troll farms in campaign</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/20/22/bongbong-says-hes-not-spreading-fake-news'>'Wala kayong naririnig na fake news sa akin': Bongbong Marcos</a></li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></p><figure class='op-interactive'><iframe allow='autoplay; fullscreen' frameborder='0' height='100%' id='ivsplayer01' scrolling='no' src='https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&spid=3001339&vid=1779362' width='100%'></iframe></figure><div class='iwantbar'>Watch more News on <a href='https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news' target='_blank'>iWantTFC</a></div>

<p>"A lot of our countrymen are being brainwashed. They have become victims of these endless lies," lawyer Loida Lewis, national chair of US Filipinos for Good Governance (USFGG), said in a forum Wednesday.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/22/election-watchdog-calls-out-marcos-for-disinformation-campaign'>Election watchdog calls out Marcos for 'disinformation' campaign</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/02/14/22/disinformation-propaganda-boosting-marcos-popularity-analyst'>Disinformation, propaganda playing a part in Marcos' popularity among low-income groups - analyst</a></li></ul>

<div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos Jr. visits Meycauayan, Bulacan, March 8, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/04/20220308-election-campaign-marcos-duterte-bulacan-md-18.jpg' ><figcaption>Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos Jr. visits Meycauayan, Bulacan, March 8, 2022.<em> Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A group of Filipino-Americans is urging Facebook to take down a network of "trolls" who they said is at the forefront of widespread disinformation in relation to the 2022 Philippine elections.</p>

A group is urging Facebook to take down a network of trolls who is at the forefront of widespread disinformation in relation to the 2022 polls.

No pro-Marcos trolls? Fil-Am group says it found around 100 on Facebook | ABS-CBN News

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No pro-Marcos trolls? Fil-Am group says it found around 100 on Facebook

No pro-Marcos trolls? Fil-Am group says it found around 100 on Facebook