Philippine Army member in charge of social media ops hit by Facebook fake accounts purge —report

An account of a Philippine Army officer was among those taken down by social media giant Facebook due to "coordinated inauthentic behavior," according to a global network of digital forensic researchers.

According to a report of the Digital Forensic Research Lab, the Facebook account of Andre Cabales, or Philippine Army service member Alexandre Cabales, was taken down together with other personal accounts that had extensive posting histories and appeared to belong to Army personnel.

Citing information from his LinkedIn account, DFRLab said Cabales is the Chief of the Army Social Media Center. His main task is to "conduct activities in social media that will manage and enhance public perception of the Philippine Army as well as facilitate the delivery of information to the Filipino people about the Army and the government in general.”

Though Cabales' Facebook account had a different name, DFRLab said it was able to determine that the account belonged to him through his photos as well as the personal blog linked to the account.

The group also indicated that Cabales was the registered owner of Kalinaw News, the official online source of information on the "pursuit for peace in the Philippines." In its website, it is stated that it is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment.

Moreover, the DFRLab also said Cabales was connected to the Hands Off Our Children (HOOC), which was also one of pages and acconts taken down by Facebook, according to Armed Forces chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay.

"His Facebook account was an administrator of a private Facebook group linked to the NGO’s page, along with three other accounts in the network," the DFRLab said.

"His role in administering this group suggested that while the Hands Off Our Children movement presents itself as an independent organization led by concerned parents, it may be more closely linked to the Civil-Military Operations Regiment than it publicly lets on," it added.

Gapay, in a statement, said the HOOC is a campaign launched by a group of parents to protect their children against "violent extremism."

"Their Facebook Page was instrumental to their campaign to raise awareness on the vulnerability of children at the hands of communist front organizations," Gapay said.

Meanwhile, DFRLab said it also found out that "Cabales and several other military-linked accounts in the network were indeed running some sort of social media operation on behalf of the military and were coordinating with one another in closed Facebook groups."

"Cabales, for instance, was an administrator of a private group called 'SOCIAL MEDIA OPERATION TRAINING CL-02–18,' along with two other profiles included in the takedown: Bruce G. Mayam-o and Ricky-Boy Castro," the DFRLab bared.

"Without access to these private groups, however, it could not be determined whether they were being used as a planning ground for coordinating the inauthentic network," it added.

GMA News Online has reached the AFP and the Philippine Army for comment about DFRLab's report on Cabales.

The AFP leadership on Tuesday insisted that it is adhering to online etiquette and that it does not tolerate uploading fake news and fictitious social media accounts.

Facebook's recent action prompted the AFP leadership to check the personal accounts of their personnel, according to Gapay. This incident also urged the AFP to remind its men of the proper behavior that must be observed in using social media. —KBK, GMA News