Trolls say it’s easy to get public to believe fake news

It is easy to get the public to believe disinformation spread online, at least two former trolls said. 

In a special report for 24 Oras on Tuesday, Mariz Umali spoke with two people whose past jobs as fake news disseminators spread false and malicious information against a politician and a company, respectively.

“Ang napansin namin is yung, kung ano yung minsan exaggerated, yun pa yung mas maraming like at reacts,” said "Chris" (not his real name).

(What we noticed is, often it was the exaggerations that would be the ones to get more likes and reactions.)

Chris became a troll—though he didn't realize it at the time—when he took the job that had a starting salary of P17,000, working for a politician just before Eleksyon 2016. He started out as a moderator for a page, then later was asked to make posts himself.

“Nung una, ang sinabi lang is magbantay ng mga comments, ng mga mapanirang comments, i-block yung mga nagsasabi ng hindi magaganda. Pero kalaunan kailangan namin gumawa ng content or post na makakasira sa kalaban nung kandidato namin,” Chris said.

(At first, I was told to watch out for derogatory comments and block them. Eventually, we were told to create derogatory content or make damaging posts against the rival candidate.)

According to a study by academics Dr. Jonathan Ong and Jason Cabañes, the dissemination of disinformation truly became prevalent in the Philippines during the 2016 elections.

“What we found was that it's more normalized for politicians to be doing digital operations. For some people, yes, it is explicitly political. Gusto nilang ma-elect [They wanted to be elected] into office and one of the most lucrative and most available jobs is digital operations,” said Ong, director of Glotech Lab of the University of Massachusetts.

Troll hierarchy

Chris said he did not realize when he started that what he was doing was trolling.

“Sobrang simple lang kasi nakahanda na yung mga caption, nakahanda na yung mga pictures, tapos saan nyo siya ipo-post, anong oras niyo isha-share,” Chris said.

(It was so simple because the captions, the pictures were already ready, and we were told where to post them and what time to share them.)

One of the worst things they did, said Chris, was making it look like the rival candidate was committing plunder.

“Inakusahan namin yung isang kandidato na mandarambong siya. Hmm. Kasi, di naman talaga napatunayan na mandarambong yung kalaban ng kliente,” he added.

(We accused a candidate, our client's rival, of being a plunderer. But it had not been proven that they were a plunderer.)

That, said Chris, was when he realized that what he was doing was wrong. His boss was pressuring him to create derogatory posts almost every day even if there was no truth in it.

However, Chris said, he continued with his work since he earned a big amount.

The hierarchy or structure of a troll farm is composed of:

• the client, or the one who benefits from the disinformation
• the troll operators or consultants, who oversee the whole operation, and
• the troll workers who spread disinformation.

The troll workers usually use fake identities that usually come from other countries, particularly Southeast Asia.

“So it's a real hierarchy. Meron mga boss [There are bosses] and they won't ever call themselves as troll. But they are actually the real masterminds of the operations. They will dictate the talk points and the main kinds of stories that the influencers and fake account operators are instructed to share and spread on social media,” Ong said.

“Val,” also not her real name, worked as a digital operator—a euphemism for a paid troll. Her job was spreading disinformation against a company, her client's competition.

“Lahat ng account ginagamit namin. 'Ang pangit yung service nila diyan. Bulok yung, ano, yung system',” Val said.

(All of our accounts were being used to say, 'Their service is terrible, their system is rotten.)

Fear, anxiety, resentment

Ong said trolls and troll farms find a way in by stoking people's fear, anxiety, or resentment.

“Ito yung mga topics na talagang inaatake ng mga trolls [Trolls usually attack these topics]. And ito yung mga ginagamit nila [This is what they use] as digital weapons, really, to steer the conversation, to draw people's attention,” Ong said.

Ong said that even some politicians who have openly rebuked the spread of disinformation have themselves resorted to using trolls.

“Now, even those who had tried to denounce disinformation and fake news, feeling nila they have to fight fire with fire these days. It's becoming more normalized, it's becoming more professionalized, it's more expected now na ay kailangan lumaban din tayo. Kailangan maki-meme wars din tayo [we need to fight back, we need to join the meme wars too],” Ong said.

Despite the spread of fake news, there is still a way to combat it.

“We need to empower workers. And empower our students to have better vocabulary of ethics. Better vocabulary of good and bad practice. Parang na-overlook na natin ang [It seems that we have overlooked] questions of ethics,” Ong said.

Trolls also live in fear

Chris and Val admitted that in exchange for their illegal work, they lived in fear every day.

“Nagkaroon sa akin ng takot nung na-realize ko na hawak pala ng operator yung information namin. Kaming mga trolls. Alam niya kung saan kami nakatira. So, kung nagkabulilyaso man, pwede niya kami ipaligpit,” Chris said.

(I became frightened when I realized that the operator had our information. They know where we live. So if things go south, they could have us put away.)

“Nandoon na rin yung takot na what if magkahulihan, siyempre binibigay namin yung ID namin,” Val said.

(There is also the fear that what if we are caught? Because of course, we surrendered our ID.)

In the end, Chris and Val decided to leave trolling behind.

“Parang na-guilty, kasi parang, nanloko ka ng tao, mam, eh. Tapos, to the point na niloloko mo rin yung sarili mo,” Val said.

(I felt guilty since I was lying to the public. And it reached the point that I was also fooling myself.)

“Hindi akong magpapaka-hipokrito. Malaking pera ang mawawala. Pero hindi masisikmura ng konsyensya ko eh. Mali yung ginagawa ko. Mali talaga. Pinagsisihan ko siya,” Chris said.

(I will not be a hypocrite. I will lose a lot of money. But my conscience can’t take it. What I did was truly wrong. I regret it.)

We have the power to fight against fake news by being critical of the posts we read and share, since our freedom to live in truth is at stake. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/BM, GMA Integrated News