A study by a British institution found that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s camp has spent $200,000, or around P10 million, to hire social media “trolls” to shape public opinion and target anyone who opposes the president’s way of running the country.
The study published by Oxford University looked into how different political personalities or parties in 28 countries use “cyber troops” in influencing public opinion using various strategies, tools and techniques.
The study, as cited by Inquirer, said that Duterte’s 400-500 cyber troops post pro-administration comments, harass, and individually target dissenters. It said that the Philippines’ cyber troops are “liminal but with …read more
Source: Asian Journal