Chinese-named X accounts spread fake news to defend Dutertes – group

Chinese-named X accounts spread fake news to defend Dutertes – group

During a House of Representatives tri-committee hearing, PressOne.PH multimedia editor Niceforo Balbedina revealed that as of 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, they had discovered 107 accounts that were originally from Spanish-speaking nations but were converted to display Chinese names.

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“And those followers and likes, when we looked at them, we analyzed them one by one, most or almost all of them came from Spanish-speaking countries and had no posts and interest in the West Philippine Sea […] It’s possible that he was bought from online growth services like that. He’s not, he’s not a real account in a sense that he’s not real enough to interact with on that issue,” Balbedina said.

“This is our latest story: we have identified 107 accounts as of 11:00 am this morning, spreading anti-Philippine sentiments on Twitter. These accounts, some of them, have Chinese names. Most of them were created simultaneously and their posting activities are very questionable,” he added.

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“These accounts shared two in particular links related to the Vice President. First is a Rappler story in which Duterte criticized the administration and the next is the PhilStar story in which he commented referencing cash, illegal drugs, and partying,” he said.

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“The tweeting on this channel is also repetitive, this network of accounts, and their tweets are appearing because there are developments in the quad comm hearing at the same time,” Balbedina explained.

“So their tweets came out when some family members of the Duterte family were implicated in a drug case, then the tweets came out again at the same time when the DepEd and OVP were implicated in the funds, usage of funds in a hearing as well,” he added.

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