AI: Philippines government using digital tools to stifle dissent

MANILA, Philippines — Human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has discovered the increasing use of Facebook and other online tools to target young activists and stifle dissent and freedom of expression in the Philippines.

AI yesterday released a report highlighting how the Duterte and Marcos administrations have weaponized digital tools, misinformation and anti-terror laws in red-tagging campaigns that target young activists.

“Activists and other critical voices are being red-tagged and identified as targets by the government, and then pursued online. However, in the Philippines, the issue does not only concern online harassment; it also results in tangible harm offline,” AI’s Amnesty Tech director Damini Satija said.

“Over the years, red-tagging has been used to instigate direct threats and attacks on those who criticize and oppose the government and Meta is playing an enabling role in this,” Satija added.

Meta owns Facebook, the most popular social media platform in the Philippines.

For its report, AI interviewed 41 human rights defenders in the country to look into the extent of state-sponsored campaigns against the youth who express dissent against the government and its policies.

AI also interviewed experts in the field of human rights, journalism and local government, as well as conducted research and analysis on Facebook content and ads.

The group said it found consistent failures by Meta to enforce its community guidelines and to remove red-tagging content that incites hatred and violence.

The technology company approved and published ads that highlight “failures in human rights due diligence by the company,” according to AI.

“Although the company is well-aware of red-tagging and prohibits using the platform for these purposes, multiple accounts were able to repeatedly red-tag and ‘terrorist-tag’ youth and other groups through advertisements to send messages which often lead to direct threats and offline attacks,” it said.

Wilnor Papa, AI Philippines head of activism and mobilization, noted that “inadequate content moderation and ad approval mechanisms, and a failure to track the effectiveness of its risk mitigation measures, have turned Facebook into an enabling environment that contributes to serious human rights violations.”

Meta did not respond to AI when it was asked to comment on the report’s findings.

An earlier message sent to AI said: “We assess allegations of red-tagging against a number of policies, including our coordinating harm and promoting crime policy. Under that policy, we will remove content that exposes the identity of someone who is alleged to be a member of an ‘at-risk’ group, where these allegations could lead to real life harm.”

AI urged Meta to conduct a thorough review and overhaul of its human rights due diligence processes.

This is to ensure that the company adequately scrutinizes red-tagging posts flagged by human rights defenders and to eliminate paid red-tagging content before promoting it to users of its platform.

“Philippine authorities must immediately stop their repressive red-tagging campaign, repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act and cease any form of intimidation, harassment, threats or attacks against human rights activists,” Satija said.

“They must also abolish NTF-ELCAC and promptly conduct an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into its activities,” she added, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has been called out repeatedly over red-tagging activities.