A surge of doctored posts and artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes is sweeping Philippine social media, reinforcing partisan loyalties and exploiting the country’s fraught political divide amid an intensifying rift between the rival camps of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and former leader Rodrigo Duterte.
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The flood of online disinformation – turbocharged by new technology and recycled tactics – is thriving in a digital ecosystem where engagement often outweighs accuracy, analysts warn.
The Philippines’ polarised political climate, combined with low digital literacy and eroding institutional trust, has created a “perfect storm” for false narratives to flourish – particularly those generated by AI, according to Paco Pangalangan, a regional disinformation and tech policy consultant.
“Filipinos spend more time on social media than almost anyone else in the world, but digital literacy remains low, institutional trust is eroding, and platforms continue to reward engagement over accuracy,” he told This Week in Asia.
One recent high-profile case involved a falsified Beverly Hills police report linking first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos to the March death of Filipino retail scion Paolo Tantoco in Los Angeles. The report, which went viral online, falsely claimed that Tantoco died from a drug overdose and that Marcos had been summoned for questioning.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro on Tuesday dismissed the document as fabricated, saying the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles had verified with American authorities that it had been “altered”.
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