DURING the past weeks, at least seven members of the media have been the targets of trolls, or what appeared as “keyboard warriors,” of the Duterte administration, prompting some media groups and organizations here and abroad to raise the alarm.
As they are, these comments against the journalists and a broadcaster, in the form of messages over the Internet, were “very nasty” to the point that such could be seen or interpreted as threats. Count the journalists out, and there are more other victims.
Indeed, another battle has been drawn by the hordes of Duterte followers in cyberspace, and they are waging it out in a borderless front, and like the war on illegal drugs that was being pursued by the government, which is brutal, it was also vicious.
It was a high-tech war, waged in the cyberspace against those who do not toe the line of the administration.
Journalists case
Last month Reuters reporters Manny Mogato and Karen Lema were on the receiving end of the vicious messages and even threats by die-hard Duterte supporters, after they reported on the “Hitler” remarks of the President like other journalists.
Media groups and organizations were forced to issue statements in defense of the two beleaguered journalists.
“Threatening journalists when their reportage is disagreeable or erroneous is criminal, as is helping spread these threats, especially if any harm should befall the subjects of such opprobrium,” the local National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a news statement.
“We are worried over the continued vilification of media and attempts to lay the predicate to muzzle freedom of the press and of expression,” it added.
Not too long ago, another reporter was also attacked through the social media, after she asked the President about the incident wherein he whistled at one television reporter.
In September two other journalists were also attacked following an international story on Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Just this week a broadcaster for radio station dzXL was, likewise, threatened over her critical reporting of the President.
Palace backing
The President’s “soldiers” over the Internet, who uses every available platform of social media, seemed to be very well organized that they would come in chorus for trolls the minute any message that do not sit well with the administration is put up.
And it appeared that Malacañang endorses this practice of Duterte followers when it told journalists in Manila to follow the examples of their colleagues from Davao, as reported by the NUJP.
The Palace suggested that “media should undergo a briefing from Davao-based media to be able tell if the President is making fun of an issue or if he’s serious.”
“The suggestion is egregious,” the NUJP said in response.
“What Malacañang is basically saying is that the President is so incapable of coherence that he requires divination by an exclusive clique that enjoys a level of kinship anathema to a profession that demands a modicum of distance from its subjects,” the NUJP said.
“It is the obligation of the government and of leaders to speak clearly that the governed may understand, unequivocally, the messages and edicts they wish to impart,” it added.
31 comments
wala kaming sawa sa pagsupporta sa pangulo naman dahil alam namin na siya ang makakpatid ng paghihirap ng bansa
cyber army ano yun? di ba puedeng kanyang opinyon lang tayo dahil nga may freedom of speech
hindi mapipigilan mga tao kung nakakakita sila ng pagasa sa pinuno natin
kahit ano pa itawag basta buo ang supporta kay PRRD okay lang yan!
mga bayaran kasi mga dutertards
Hehehe. Kami pa ang nagdodonate ano. Nasanay lang kasi ang mainstream media na walang kumokontra sa kanila nung konti pa gumagamit ng social media.
Baka pag may emergency ka call ka rin ng 911 at 8888. Kailan na nagkaroon ng ganyan. Especially end of tanim bala.
ikaw naman bayaran ng yellowtard masyado kang halata! uLOL!!
kahit ano pa yan basta sang-ayon ako sa pangulo
Nagtatae dito ang mga computerized bot Dutertrolls.
Kung may DU30 keyboard warriors meron din yellow keyboard warrior. Wow, one sided itong social media na to.
ngpapaniwala naman kayo jan sa Dutae na yan wala man yan gingawa na mabuti!
ikaw tlagang wala kang gingawa na mabuti puro ka lang comment ng hindi naman maganda!
sus naman mabuti pa ikaw wala kang gingawa na mabuti
kahit anong gawin nila sa ating pangulo marami parin ang sumusuporta sknya,hindi nyo sya bsta bsta mapapabagsak.
ginagawa naman ni digong ang kanyang makakaya,wag na lang haluan ng pambabatikos dahil hindi naman ito mkakatulong.
wala namang mali sa pagbatikos…ang problema nitong mga jounalists na to, mali mali mga tanong at pinagsasabi…. hina mga utak….or sadyang bayaran lang…
marami talaga ang nauuto ni dugong!
marami lang ang naniniwala sa knyang kakayahan na mababago nya ang ating bansa.
kakahiya naman sau na dilawan ka!tatanga t anga kanaman.
nkikitaan lang nila ng pag asa ang ating pangulo.wag ng haluan ng malisya.
oo nga msyado lang mga inggit ang kalaban ni digong.
mga dutertards mga uto uto..haha
nag papatawa ang isang taNGA..
alam kong lahat ng ginagawa ni pdu30 ay para din sa ikakaayos ng ating bansa.
Sadyang marami lang talaga kaming nagmamahal at sumusuporta sa pangulo!
marami lang talaga kaming sumusuporta kay tatay digong!
Para sa akin, lahat ng ginagawa ni tatay digong ay para sa ating bayan kaya naman tigilan na ang paninira sakanya!!
walang ganyan! solido ang suporta namin sa presidente!
wala namang kwenta yang presidente nyo! puro patayan lang ang alam nyan!
I am not a PRO-DU30 but the way I see things clearly and see improvements of lives of those law abiding people (not those corrupt and drug related people), the way media and NUJP presented some articles are really biased to the current administration. I suggest to NUJP to check their journalist ranks such as Mogato, Lema and Salaverria on how they create sensationalism through bias headlines and click-bait topics or questions as these really makes the journalism really dirty, unprofessional and uneducated, tainting the responsible media journalism. Some NUJP that is tied to elitist practice reporting is incapable of coherence from a “probinsyano” mindanaon-davaoeno-bisaya way of speaking and culture. NUJP should clean the journalist ranks of corruption, biased and click-bait way of reporting. People are now awake, wise and can see more angles on one topic as there’s a lot of outlets to view such events happening on the country. Media can no longer mind-control these people in their old ways.