What caused the surge of fake accounts on Facebook? Experts list possible scenarios

Filipino netizens were alarmed by a sudden surge of fake accounts on Facebook.

The profiles were mostly empty save for the names, which are copied from or closely resembled names of users who already have legitimate Facebook accounts.

Given the timing, some lawmakers exchanged claims that the phenomenon may be a “prelude  to a crackdown” on activists or part of “scare tactics” by those who oppose the controversial anti-terror bill.

Experts, however, cautioned against jumping to conclusions that the phenomenon is politically motivated without understanding how it could have occurred.

GMA News Online spoke to Jonathan Ong and Jason Cabañes, authors of a 2018 study on disinformation and troll accounts, to shed some light on the emergence of duplicate Facebook profiles.

Facebook glitch

Ong, associate professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said that the best case scenario is a technical glitch within the system of the platform itself.

"Maybe Facebook is doing backup in whatever server that they might have," he said, citing the observed numbering in the URL of the duplicate profiles. “Maybe it’s supposed to store secondary information.”

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also said a glitch within Facebook is a possible explanation for the fake accounts.

According to the National Privacy Commission (NPC), the surge in duplicate profiles is “very unusual” even though dummy accounts are nothing new on the platform.

Over 100 reports have been received by the Department of Justice hours after it launched an investigation on the emergence of fake accounts.

Facebook meanwhile assured its Filipino community that they are investigating reports of “suspicious activity” in their platform. It encouraged netizens to keep reporting accounts “they believe may be inauthentic.”

New disinformation strategy

Cabañes, associate professor in communication at De La Salle University, said it’s also possible that troll farms are developing a new strategy online.

“Napaka-obvious nung pagkakagawa nung dummy accounts and kung iba-base natin ‘yun dun sa ginawa naming research noon tungkol sa mga disinformation producers, medyo hindi siya pumapantay dun sa mga alam naming strategy na ginagawa nila,” he said.

According Cabañes, disinformation campaigns try to present themselves as organic and authentic, so the dummy accounts came as a surprise.

“Ayaw nilang gumagamit masyado ng bots kasi pinag uusapan ‘yung ‘Game of Thrones’ para daw Whitewalkers, malayo palang kitang-kita mo na,” he said.

Bots are more typically used on Twitter to amplify engagement numbers, but Cabañes said disinformation producers could be trying them out on Facebook.

“Hindi naman natin mai-di-discount na baka pumalpak sila ngayon, na meron silang tina-try na bagong technique na mas automated tapos hindi masyadong maganda ‘yung pagkakagawa,” he said.

Portfolio building

Ong and Cabañes both said another possibility is that disinformation groups could be trying to attract potential clients by “flexing” their capabilities.

“Maaari nga ito baka may bago silang tactic na mas automated tas gusto nila ipakita sa mga kliyente nila,” said Cabañes. “Kaya siya obvious — hindi dahil palpak siya kundi dahil gusto talaga nilang ipaalam na, ‘Oy, may bago kaming weapon o. Baka gusto n’yong gamitin.’”

Ong said they could be trying to impress political clients who could hire them in the next election.

“Our previous research on disinformation campaigners tell us na usual practice ‘yun na mag-po-proof of concept muna sila,” he said. “Parang, ‘We’re gonna make your hashtag trend. Watch on this day, we’re gonna do that for you.’ For free lang ‘yun ah.”

Cabañes said it’s possible that this advertisement of their skills is targeted towards all sides of the political spectrum.

“Depende sa kung paano mo siya aangguluhan, puwede mo siyang ibenta sa kahit sinong political player, kahit opposition, kahit government,” he said. “Puwedeng commercial siya in that sense.”

Data breach

Finally, the worst-case scenario is breach of user data similar to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

“What we should be most worried of is whether our data were compromised,” Ong said.

According to Cyber Security Philippines, the “attackers” could be referencing “work, school, or other records” in creating the fake accounts.

Ong said, however, that it’s more probable that the data was leaked through third-party apps like games, quizzes, or polls.

Cabañes also noted that there are many possible sources of the information used to create the fake accounts. Ong, meanwhile, said that there could be hackers who somehow managed to access personal data of citizens en masse.

“That to me is the scariest possibility na parang this was done automated, this was done at scale,” he said. — LA, GMA News