PHILIPPINES: AUTHORITIES INCREASINGLY USING FACEBOOK TO STIFLE YOUNG ACTIVISTS’ RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND PROTEST

The new report, “I turned my fear into courage”: Red-tagging and state violence against young human rights defenders in the Philippines, details how the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has increasingly weaponized digital tools, misinformation and vague anti-terror laws to harass, intimidate and repress young activists

Philippines authorities are increasingly using Facebook in red-tagging campaigns targeting young activists, including those who investigate alleged human rights violations by the military, police and other government agencies, Amnesty International said today in a new report.  

The new report, “I turned my fear into courage”: Red-tagging and state violence against young human rights defenders in the Philippines, details how the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has increasingly weaponized digital tools, misinformation and vague anti-terror laws to harass, intimidate and repress young activists.  

At the heart of this coordinated campaign is the practice of “red-tagging”, through which leading political figures and state security officials vilify human rights activists and other perceived opponents of the state as alleged “Communist rebels” and “terrorists.” 

Activists and other critical voices are being red-tagged and identified as targets by the government, and then pursued online. However, in the Philippines, the issue does not only concern online harassment; it also results in tangible harm offline.

Damini Satija, Director of Amnesty Tech

“Over the years, red-tagging has been used to instigate direct threats and attacks on those who criticize and oppose the government and Meta is playing an enabling role in this.” 

Young activists interviewed for this report described how they have personally suffered from being red-tagged, which has led to a climate of fear and self-censorship, or individuals giving up on their work as activists or journalists. 

As recently as August 2024, young environmental rights defender Rowena Dasig went missing and is feared to have become the target of a series of enforced disappearances of human rights defenders under President Marcos Jr.   

Ana*, a 26-year-old student activist said, “When you’re harassed online or when you’re posted online, that makes you a target. It’s letting people know that this person is a target, that you should not get close to this person … Of course, if you’re not yet organized, it would make you think that you wouldn’t want to be an activist because your life would be put in danger.”  

Red-Tagging under successive governments

Red-tagging intensified under the administration of President Marcos Jr, with opponents targeted through Facebook posts and press statements despite his administration’s attempts to present itself as more respectful of human rights. 

The attacks are particularly notable on the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Facebook page, which has thousands of followers. 

At the time of publication, the Philippine government had not responded to a request for comment on the findings of Amnesty’s report. 

Red-tagging surged under President Rodrigo Duterte after the collapse of the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). 

Duterte’s Executive Order 70 established the NTF-ELCAC in 2018, which the government has used as a pretext to launch a crackdown on human rights activists and perceived dissidents.  

“Online red-tagging was very noticeable under the Duterte administration because, pre-pandemic it was the trolls commenting, and then suddenly during the pandemic it became online red-tagging.

Miguel*, a 26-year-old male activist from Baguio City. 

The NTF-ELCAC shares numerous posts and press statements on its Facebook page, many of them wrongly vilifying young activists as “terrorists” or falsely accusing them of being associated with armed groups.  

Bolstered by the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020, which permits police and military personnel to detain suspects without a warrant or formal charges for up to 24 days, state security forces have filed baseless complaints against young activists and arbitrarily detained them.  

Hailey Picayo, a 21-year-old Southern Tagalog activist, said, “They are framing us as deceivers of the youth.” 

In August 2022, the Philippine military accused Hailey of being an NPA member and a “terrorist”. At the time, she was investigating a case in which members of the security forces were accused of killing a minor. 

“It’s not a normal thing to be facing at our age”, she added in reference to the baseless criminal complaints filed against her by members of a local military branch in an apparent act of retribution against her investigation. 

The cases were dropped in 2023, but the misuse of the criminal justice system to target and harass Hailey left her scarred.  

“The Philippine authorities must immediately stop their repressive red-tagging campaign, repeal the ATA and cease any form of intimidation, harassment, threats or attacks against human rights activists. They must also abolish NTF-ELCAC and promptly conduct an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into its activities,” said Damini Satija. 

Facebook and red-tagging 

Facebook is the leading social media network in the Philippines, with 95 percent of social media users logging in to the platform each month, which also makes it a key focus for red-tagging and online harassment. 

Speaking to civil society groups, young human rights defenders and building on its own analysis of Facebook content and ads, Amnesty International found consistent failures by Meta to enforce its community guidelines and to remove red-tagging content that incites hatred and violence. 

“We tried reporting these (Facebook) pages, but it just doesn’t stop,” said Miguel*, a 26-year-old Baguio-based activist. 

“It’s very difficult to demand accountability because they [Meta] say, ‘we have community guidelines.’”  

Meta did not respond to a request for a comment on Amnesty International’s findings. In an earlier response to a research letter sent by Amnesty International in July 2024, the company said, “We assess allegations of red-tagging against a number of policies, including our Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy. Under that policy, we will remove content that exposes the identity of someone who is alleged to be a member of an ‘at-risk’ group, where these allegations could lead to real life harm.” 

Amnesty International researchers also analysed ads that were approved and published by Meta on its Facebook platform, using Meta’s Ad Library and found evidence of failures in human rights due diligence by the company. Although the company is well-aware of red-tagging and prohibits using the platform for these purposes, multiple accounts were able to repeatedly red-tag and “terrorist-tag” youth and other groups through advertisements to send messages which often lead to direct threats and off-line attacks.  

“Inadequate content moderation and ad approval mechanisms, and a failure to track the effectiveness of its risk mitigation measures, have turned Facebook into an enabling environment that contributes to serious human rights violations,” said Wilnor Papa, Head of Activism and Mobilization at Amnesty International Philippines.  

Amnesty International is urging Meta to conduct a thorough review and overhaul of its human rights due diligence processes, to ensure that it adequately scrutinizes red-tagging posts flagged by human rights defenders and to eliminate paid red-tagging content before promoting it to users of its platform. 

*Name changed to protect identity