BAYAN leader: Activists victims of fake news too

An activist group leader on Saturday said that he has been a victim of fake news websites peddling false stories about him and other activists.

"The fake news articles have been circulating for some time now and have intensified after the Marcos burial protests," Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a Facebook post.

Reyes claimed that the fake news items are being peddled by "Marcos trolls and paid hacks.”

Reyes, being the secretary-general of BAYAN, has been at the forefront of protest actions against the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The activist leader said one of the fake news items was about how high profile activists make money, his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, and an alleged video of him playing “video karera.”

Reyes challenged the mainstream media and its watchdogs to protect activists just as how they defend the freedom of the press.

“We have consistently stood for press freedom, condemned the killings of journalists, and have defended journalist friends who have been unfairly attacked online,” Reyes said.

“We now ask our media friends to do the same for the activists. We ask you to speak out against this online campaign to silence dissent,” he added. —ALG, GMA News