POLITICS AND PROFIT IN THE FAKE NEWS FACTORY
POLITICS AND PROFIT IN THE FAKE NEWS FACTORY

FOUR WORK MODELS OF POLITICAL TROLLING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Author(s): Jonathan Corpus Ong, Jason Vincent Cabañes
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Economy, Media studies, Political Theory, Communication studies, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Politics and communication, Marketing / Advertising, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Fake news factory; Politics and profit; Political trolling; Philippines; State-sponsored model; In-house staff model Advertising and PR model; Clickbait model;
Summary/Abstract: The Philippines represents a national context where disinformation is becoming ever more entrenched into the political system, in spite of global attention and investment in the fight against fake news. Three years ago, a toxic election campaign headlined by misogynistic rape jokes, false papal endorsements, and imposter news websites ended with a surprise outcome that upended the entire political establishment. In the May 2019 midterm election, new interventions such as platform bans, fact-check partnerships, and digital advertising rules were introduced to curb the spread of similar tactics. Recent research discovered, however, that the digital disinformation industry has only further expanded and flourished, with digital operators controlling a more substantial chunk of the political campaign war chest.

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