Duterte supporters to look for other venue after Facebook took down accounts -Palace

Supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte will likely migrate to another platform after Facebook had shut down pages linked to these groups due to coordinated inauthentic behavior, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace respects the decision of Facebook even as he reiterated his opposition to the designation of critical media outlets Rappler and Vera Files as fact-checkers on the social media platform.

“Hindi ko nga maintindihan bakit iyon lang ang kinuhang fact-checker ng Facebook. Bakit naman hindi sila kumuha doon sa kabilang kampo. Tapos iyong country president pa nila diyan eh talaga namang mortal na oposisyon,” he said in a radio interview.

“Pupunta na lang sa ibang medium iyong mga sumusuporta sa gobyerno at iyan naman po ang kuwento noong mga supporters ni Presidente Duterte na sa mula’t mula po humahanap ng alternative venue para ipakalat ang impormasyon.”

Roque also said Facebook did not remove the official pages of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

It was earlier reported that the social media giant had removed accounts linked to the military and police for coordinated inauthentic behavior, a violation of Facebook’s community standards.

Facebook, however, took down the account of Army Captain Alexandre Cabales. The AFP questioned Facebook’s move, saying Cabales’ posts were "real, authentic, and shared news."

The Palace earlier urged Facebook to exercise prudence “in all its actions to remove any doubt of bias given its power, influence and reach.”—AOL, GMA News