Online trolls flood AFP social media

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has disabled comments on its official Facebook page, citing a barrage of alleged troll accounts over the past few days.

“We are temporarily disabling features on our official Facebook page to deny trolls a platform for their suspicious activities,” the AFP said on Wednesday.

“Troll farms are a menace to society and we choose not to empower inauthentic actors in their coordinated attempt to spread disinformation and malinformation,” it noted.

Official military statements, releases and other information will still be posted on official channels and legitimate media organizations, AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.

The AFP is calling on the public to report malicious activities online and receive information from reputable sources only.

“There was notable flooding of unverified and inauthentic accounts recently,” Trinidad told The STAR without elaborating on when the barrage of troll accounts and comments started.

Malacañang on Tuesday assailed former president Rodrigo Duterte over his “selfish” and “brazen” call to oust President Marcos.

On Nov. 23, Vice President Sara Duterte said she had asked someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez if an alleged assassination plot against her succeeds.

Refusing to be dragged into the “political noise,” the AFP has stressed that it will remain nonpartisan and loyal to its mandate of protecting the Constitution and the state.