00:00In the midst of the continuous expansion of social media, the spreaders of fake news, like the trolls, have also spread.
00:14Some of them talked about the GMA Integrate News and told how they worked as spreaders of fake information.
00:22And that's what Mariz Umali is talking about in our debate against fake news.
00:31In the midst of the continuous expansion of social media, the spreaders of fake news, like the trolls, have also spread.
00:33In the midst of the continuous expansion of social media, the spreaders of fake news, like the trolls, have also spread.
00:37Do you know which is the truth and which is the fake news?
00:43Fake news is the fabrication of information that looks like the truth, but is far from the truth and is manipulated by the public.
00:51In a study conducted by Dr. Jonathan Old and Dr. Jason Cabañas, this started to become a hot topic in the Philippines during the 2016 elections.
01:00What we found was that it's more normalized for politicians to be doing digital operations.
01:07For some people, yes, it is explicitly political. They want to elect into office.
01:13And one of the most lucrative and most available jobs is digital operations.
01:20One of the deceived was the former graduate, Chris.
01:24He didn't have a real name.
01:26Because he was looking for a job in 2015, he jumped to the bright side.
01:33At first, he was just a moderator of a Facebook page that was used in the elections.
01:38Until...
01:39I just found out that I was going to work for a politician.
01:44Okay. What did he say you were going to do?
01:47At first, what he said was to monitor the comments, to destroy the comments, to block those who say it's not good.
01:56But in the end, we need to create content or posts that can destroy the opponent of our candidate.
02:04Chris didn't know back then that he was going to troll.
02:09Because the word troll was not yet known in 2015.
02:12It's very simple. The caption is ready, the pictures are ready, where you will post it, what time you will share it.
02:21How much salary did you have?
02:23I started with P17,000. We were paid in cash.
02:29What was the most severe thing you wrote?
02:31We accused a candidate of being a troll.
02:35Because our client's opponent is not proven to be a troll.
02:43This is where Chris slowly felt that there was something wrong.
02:47Every day, our boss pressures us to think that this can be thrown at the opponent.
02:54Even if it's not true, even if it's exaggerated.
02:59But you still beat him.
03:01Uhm... yes.
03:04I'm earning money, so why would I stop?
03:08It's already near the end.
03:10The hierarchy is simple.
03:11The hierarchy is the structure of a troll farm.
03:14The client or the one who benefits from disinformation is the boss.
03:19Next is the troll operator or consultant who is in charge of the entire operation.
03:25And they are the troll workers who spread misinformation using stolen identities
03:31that they usually get from other countries, particularly in Southeast Asia.
03:36There are bosses, and they won't ever call themselves a troll,
03:41but they are actually the real masterminds of the operations.
03:46They will dictate the talk points and the main kinds of stories
03:50that the influencers and fake account operators are instructed to share and spread on social media.
03:58In a job like this, Val is also not a real name.
04:04He was hired to be a digital operator, the country's best troll worker.
04:10But he didn't enroll as a candidate, but as a businessman.
04:14He has the competence of the company that hired him.
04:17We are trolls, ma'am.
04:19We steal from everyone.
04:21We use all the accounts.
04:22Because their service is really bad.
04:26Their system is corrupt.
04:29According to Chris and Val, it's easy for people to believe.
04:33What we noticed is that they sometimes exaggerate,
04:37and there are more likes and reacts.
04:40Topics that instill fear, anxiety, or resentment,
04:45these are the topics that are really attacked by trolls.
04:49And this is what they use to use as digital weapons, really,
04:55to steer the conversation, to draw people's attention.
05:00What's sad is that even politicians who are angry at fake news,
05:05are forced to use trolls.
05:07Now, even those who had tried to denounce disinformation and fake news,
05:13feel that they have to fight fire with fire these days.
05:16It's becoming more normalized.
05:18It's becoming more professionalized.
05:20It's more expected now that we also need to fight.
05:25We also need to become meme wars.
05:28But in the midst of spreading misinformation,
05:31we can still do something to fight fake news.
05:34We need to empower workers, empower our students,
05:38to have better vocabulary of ethics.
05:41Better vocabulary of good and bad practice.
05:43So that we can overlook the questions of ethics.
05:50Aminado Senaval and Chris,
05:52their illegal job is to live in fear every day.
05:58I was afraid when I realized that the operator was holding our information.
06:06We are trolls.
06:08You know where we live.
06:09So, if you steal something,
06:13you can return it to us.
06:15There's also the fear of being caught.
06:18Of course, there are a lot of people who give us their IDs.
06:26In the end, they were the ones who made the decision.
06:30It's like guilt, ma'am.
06:33It's like you were fooled by someone,
06:35and now you're fooling yourself.
06:38I don't want to be hypocritical.
06:40A lot of money will be lost,
06:42but my conscience won't allow me to do it.
06:45What I'm doing is wrong.
06:47It's really wrong.
06:49I blame him.
06:51We have the power to fight fake news.
06:54Let's start by being able to see the other side.
06:58Because our freedom to live in the truth is great.
07:03For TMA Integrated News, Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
07:33Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:03Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:06Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:09Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:12Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:15Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:18Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:21Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:24Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
08:27Marice Umali for Tutok, 24 Hours.
Comments