InfinitUs denies contract with Chinese Embassy to ‘hire trolls’

InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. on Friday denied entering into a contract with the Chinese Embassy to allegedly hire trolls and advance pro-China narratives.

In a statement, the public relations firm tagged as “baseless accusations” the revelations made by Senator Francis Tolentino during a Senate special committee on maritime and admiralty zones investigation into submersible drones and alleged Chinese spying activities in the Philippines.

“We categorically deny having any agreement with the Chinese Embassy— or any foreign government— for troll operations, disinformation, or illicit digital activity,” the firm said.

They claimed that the service agreement presented by Tolentino was “unauthenticated, unsigned, and completely unfamiliar to our company.”

“It is, at best, a forgery crafted to fit a political narrative,” the company said.

While denying the existence of a service agreement with the Chinese Embassy, InfintUs said the check that Tolentino revealed was “real but legal and justified.”

Tolentino earlier revealed a check from Bank of China Manila Branch dated September 2023 which paid P930,000 to InfinitUs for the alleged service agreement with the Chinese Embassy.

“InfinitUs lawfully provides services to a range of clients, including diplomatic institutions. Payment for such services is standard and complies fully with Philippine banking, tax, anti-money-laundering, and corporate laws,” it said.

The PR firm cried foul and tagged as “alarming and legally questionable” the “unauthorized public exposure” of their financial records, saying this is a potential violation of banking secrecy laws, financial regulations, and data privacy statutes.

InfinitUs said they are considering appropriate legal actions.

In the same statement, the PR firm categorically denied that they are trolls, adding they will never engage in such activities.

“We are professionals. Our firm does not, and will never, engage in trolling, online harassment, or deception,” InfinitUs said, adding that they operate on a foundation of transparent, ethical, and data-driven communications.

“The reckless labeling of our services as ‘troll activity’ is false, defamatory, and endangers our people and clients,” the firm said.

During the Senate hearing, Tolentino said divulged information allegedly from InfinitUs’ report which “boasted” about “hundreds of fake social media accounts they have created using fake personas.”

These fake accounts supposedly pretended to be students, businessmen, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, according to the senator.

“So ibig sabihin po 'yung lumalabas sa Facebook ay di totoong tao, ito po ay troll…kaya lang ang ating mga kababayan ay nalilinlang,” he said.

The marketing firm also allegedly included in their report that they have engaged 50,000 real people through these troll accounts and they were “entangled in their web of deceit.”

“Hindi po ito normal public relations, hindi po ito normal PR campaign. Ang ginagawa po is to openly provide information and convey the policies of the Chinese government,” Tolentino said.

“The money that the Chinese Embassy paid was for something hidden and sinister. It was to finance a troll farm. Troll farm po ‘yun. A covert disinformation and influence operation against the Philippine government and the Filipino people,” he added.

Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by the Senate committee showed that two Chinese nationals were named as incorporators of InfinitUs Marketing Solutions.

The firm’s incorporators Min Li and Pin Li declared Chinese nationality in their articles of incorporation.

Other incorporators of the firm were Filipino nationals named Ruby Benig Gestiada, Christine Bergantinos Li, and Myka Isabel Basco. —AOL, GMA Integrated News