House leaders push digital literacy amid ‘fake’ pro-Duterte account claims

House leaders allied with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed deep concern on Sunday over reports of “fake pro-Duterte” social media accounts, warning about their tendency to undermine the upcoming midterm elections by “manipulating” public opinion through spreading false information.

A recent report by Reuters revealed that around a third of accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that posted about the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on crimes against humanity were “fake.”

The research, done by Israel-based tech firm Cyabra using artificial intelligence, showed that these “fake” accounts—praising Duterte and lambasting the ICC—are aimed at shaping online discourse around the 12 May polls. Cyabra viewed it as a "deliberate, organized" campaign.

Reuters said an upcoming study also disclosed that up to 45 percent of discussions related to the 2025 elections are being driven by inauthentic accounts, such as bots, sock puppets, and avatars.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. lamented that the growing sophistication of digital manipulation poses a serious threat to the integrity of the country’s electoral process.

“Disinformation is not a campaign strategy. It is a threat to free elections and informed choice. If we truly believe in democracy, then we must all play fair,” Gonzales stressed.

The Pampanga lawmaker underscored the need for the concerned agencies—the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology—to launch a national digital literacy program to assist the public, especially students and youth, who are most active online and most vulnerable to digital manipulation, in spotting false content and avoiding falling prey to it.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker David “Jayjay” Suarez suggested that social media platforms such as X, YouTube, and Meta—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—enforce a stringent and more proactive approach to detect and eliminate these bogus accounts.

“They have the resources and the algorithms to detect inauthentic behavior. They can’t just turn a blind eye while democracy is under attack,” he asserted.

He also backed Gonzales’ proposal to equip Filipinos with the tools to combat online manipulation.

“The Filipino voter is smart, but we owe it to them to give them the tools to fight back against deception. Let’s raise media literacy, promote digital hygiene and ensure our elections reflect the people’s will, not the will of shadow operators,” Suarez said.

Meanwhile, he appealed to politicians running in the 2025 polls to uphold clean and honest elections by doing away with fake engagement and digital deceit.

“Let’s put an end to this toxic culture before it poisons another generation of voters,” the Quezon lawmaker concluded.

According to Cyabra's chief executive, Dan Brahmy, the emergence of these “fake” accounts, particularly those election-related, could garner as high as 54 million views.