THE Armed Forces has temporarily disabled the comment feature of its Facebook page after it was flooded by comments from “trolls” amid anti-government statements of Vice President Sara Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The move is meant “to deny trolls a platform for their suspicious activities,” AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said on Wednesday night.
He said the military observed an increase in comments from the trolls, with almost similar messages, last week and this peaked last Tuesday and Wednesday.
These messages included calls for the Armed Forces to protect the Filipino people and the Constitution, and allegations of corruption in the government.
Yesterday, Trinidad said the military has no problem being criticized on its Facebook page, saying that is one way of knowing the sentiments of the people.
“But being flooded by comments from these different (troll accounts) on your Facebook, it’s not good,” he said.
Trinidad did not say when the military will restore the comment feature of its Facebook page.
“One way to address the troll farm is not to provide them with an avenue or platform. We hope will this die down naturally … We are not giving an avenue to these kinds of troll farms to flood the comment features of the AFP (Facebook page),” he said.
Last week, Vice President Sara Duterte alleged there is massive corruption under the Marcos administration.
Duterte also said she has talked to someone to kill the President, his wife Liza, and Speaker Martin Romualdez if she dies. She later said her statement was taken out of context.
On Monday, former President Rodrigo Duterte asked the military and the police to intervene and protect the Constitution amid what he said was a “fracture” governance. AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr on Wednesday rejected the call.
“Troll farms are a menace to society and we choose not to empower inauthentic actors in their coordinated attempt to spread disinformation and mal-information,” Trinidad said.
“We understand that legitimate followers will be affected by this temporary move. We extend our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and ask for your patience. We hope for your continued understanding and support,” he also said.
