Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday revealed that an undersecretary had allegedly started organizing at least two troll farms in every province to malign critics of the Duterte government and possible opponents in next year’s elections.
Lacson refused to identify the government official.
But he said this information came from a former member of his staff, allegedly approached by the said undersecretary.
He said the person approached declined the offer and reported it to him.
“So, you can just imagine if it materializes and uses the resources of the government whether or not it is sanctioned by Malacanang, well I hope not and I don’t believe so — maybe the official was just overeager,” said Lacson.
According to the senator, who has been perceived to likely run for President in 2022, he said they have been receiving a lot of information on the operation.
“There were many trolls operating to destroy possible opponents not limited only to us, but to others not aligned with the administration,” Lacson said in an online interview.
The senator said he was certain the official was “using the resources of the government,” but was unsure if the illegal project was “sanctioned by Malacañang.”
Malacañang itself denied that the Duterte government had been pushing for the creation of troll farms.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: “We have nothing to do with that. That is not government policy. If there is a government personnel doing that, perhaps it’s in their personal capacities.”
Lacson did not say if the troll farms he learned about were designed to influence votes in the upcoming 2022 national elections.
Duterte had been swept to power by strong mass support after an 11th-hour declaration of his candidacy in 2016.
He has continued to enjoy a big following online, with several social media pages dedicated to supporting his administration.
Lacson, meanwhile, said that he would be open to coalescing with smaller political parties should he decide to vie for the presidency next year.
In 2019, a study found that disinformation increased and spawned innovations in the 2019 midterm elections.
Troll farm workers could earn as much as P1,000 a day by simply “copy-pasting” campaign messages of politicians, while an entire social media project could cost about P3 million for 3 months, according to the study titled “Tracking Digital Disinformation in the 2019 Philippine Midterm Elections.”
“Comparatively speaking, it’s pretty cheap compared to a TV ad. For some of them it’s actually a cheaper buy,” media expert Jonathan Ong said in an earlier interview.
Troll farms in the Philippines tend to gain traction online as these are designed to “draw on the experiences” of common folk, said sociologist Jayeel Cornelio.
“Why does their message gain traction? These trolls are not simply creating stories. They are drawing on the experiences of everyday people,” he said in a previous interview with ABS-CBN.
Since 2019, several experts have been pushing for more transparency in digital campaign spending for 2022 elections to curb the rise of troll farms and disinformation strategies.
