No 'paid' trolls in Duterte camp 

 

It's very unlikely that the camp of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte employs an army of internet trolls to defend him from his critics, his spokesman said Thursday night.

In an interview on GMA News TV’s late night program “State of the Nation with Jessica Soho”, Duterte's new spokesman Ernie Abella said it is unlikely that there is a team within the president-elect's camp that is mainly focused on engaging in cyber propaganda in social media.

“I don’t have any official knowledge of this. But what can I say, [there are] trolls, perhaps. But employed? I doubt. I doubt there really is a department there that let’s employ these trolls,” he said.

In contemporary parlance, a troll refers to somebody who sows discord on the internet by starting arguments or by posting inflammatory statements in social media. Their actions are deliberated intended to provoke negative, emotional responses and disrupt logical discussion of issues.

Abella's statement came after GMA News anchor Jessica Soho asked him about the way Duterte’s supporters seem to bully those who express views critical of the incoming president.

Abella attributed this stance of Duterte’s online supporters to their desire to defend the person they believe in.

“Pero what can I say some of these people are very passionate. And they will protect their interests,” he said.

At the height of the election campaign, some of Duterte's supporterstook the online battle far too much by sending grave and death threats to their candidate’s critics.

One of the victims of cyberbullying was environmental advocate Renee Julienne Karunungan who received a barrage of threatening messages after she  posted a statement critical of Duterte on her Facebook account.

Some of the messages include wishes of her dying or her family getting massacred.

On May 2, she filed a criminal complaint against those who threatened her with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/564693/news/nation/woman-files-raps-vs-duterte-supporters-over-threats

Social media’s role in Duterte admin

According to incoming Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, one of their goals is to build online presence for the Duterte administration.

But Abella dismissed an alleged suggestion by an incoming Cabinet member to just release Duterte’s statements through social media.

“Siyempre, we have a whole menu of media. We have a whole menu of channels to get the message across. Social media is part of it,” he said.

“There is no policy that it will only be just social media,” Abella stressed. — APG, GMA News