Poll watchdog identifies red-tagging as top campaign violation

A poll watchdog has identified red-tagging as a top campaign violation during the midterm elections.

As of 14 March, Vote Report PH—an alliance of professionals and organizations aiming for clean, honest, and fair elections—said it has received 94 reports of campaign violations.

Of which, 64 percent involve red-tagging, 25 percent relate to illegal campaigning, four percent to vote-buying, and three percent to the illegal use of public resources.

Vote Report PH noted that some red-tagging reports stem from the use of deepfakes to spread disinformation.

A deepfake is an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something they did not actually do or say.

Progressive senatorial and party-list candidates are the usual targets of red-tagging, including senatorial candidate ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro, Kabataan Party-list first nominee Renee Co, and Bayan Muna Party-list.

Castro earlier sought the assistance of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology to take down artificial intelligence-generated videos falsely linking her and her allies to the New People's Army.

Comelec assured it is "very much willing to assist" Castro in taking down the malicious posts.

Comelec Resolution No. 1116 explicitly prohibits red-tagging as an election offense, recognizing that it distorts "public perception" and creating a "climate of fear that suppresses legitimate political discourse."

Meanwhile, Vote Report PH likewise noted that illegal campaigning is "most observed among candidates leading formal and informal surveys."

Asked for comment, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the poll body will look into the report and compare the alleged findings with its records.

"We are one with them in the fight against discriminatory acts and utterances committed during the election period and will hold responsible violations of campaign rules," Garcia said.