By Nikko Balbedina
PressOnePH
Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) temporarily restricted a network of Chinese-linked accounts involved in coordinated attacks against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. after his signing of landmark laws asserting Manila’s rights over the West Philippine Sea.
On Nov. 11, PressOne.PH identified 25 X accounts with Chinese usernames that simultaneously posted a screenshot of the previously debunked “polvoron” video that falsely showed the president using illegal drugs.
As part of the temporary restriction, users visiting the accounts are warned first about unusual activity before being given the option to continue viewing the suspicious account.
The attack followed Marcos Jr.’s signing of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, aimed at reinforcing the country’s sovereignty over its waters, and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, which will regulate routes for foreign vessels and aircraft within Philippine territory.
The dubious X accounts, all created simultaneously in September, had only three posts each—two of which, including the “polvoron” screenshot, were identical across the network.
Another similar post across the accounts is a link to an Aug. 8 Rappler news report about Vice President Sara Duterte, now a key rival of Marcos Jr., criticizing the administration.
News reports on Vice President Sara Duterte were also shared by the suspicious network of accounts on November 11, 2024 alongside the screenshot of the debunked “polvoron” video.
The third post across the network of accounts contains one of three screenshots of Chinese news articles that criticize US involvement in the West Philippine Sea dispute and the Philippines’s actions in the region.
In the articles shared by the network of Chinese accounts, they alleged that the civilian-led supply mission to fisherboats in the disputed region, dubbed “Atin Ito,” is linked to US efforts to “make trouble in the South China Sea.”
Each identified account shared one of three news blog posts from three different Chinese websites, all alleging connections between the United States and the civilian-led West Philippine Sea mission group, ‘Atin Ito.’
PressOnePH has also discovered that the 25 accounts that simultaneously posted on Nov. 11 are part of a larger network of some 40 X accounts, some of which had English-language names. While these accounts shared the same content, theirs were posted before the Nov. 11 coordinated activity.
These accounts also shared an additional news report from Philstar.com about Vice President Sara Duterte, who has remained silent on Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Some of the accounts had also repeatedly shared the June 14 Reuters report on alleged US Pentagon efforts to run a smear campaign against the Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine Sinovac. – PressOne.PH
Chinese X accounts ‘temporarily banned’ from site following coordinated attack vs Marcos Jr.
Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) temporarily restricted a network of Chinese-linked accounts involved in coordinated attacks against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. after his signing of landmark laws asserting Manila’s rights over the West Philippine Sea.
ALERT: Chinese accounts resurface fake ‘Polvoron’ video on X after Marcos Jr. signs Maritime Zones Law
A wave of suspicious X (formerly Twitter) accounts simultaneously posted screenshots of the debunked “polvoron” video, which falsely showed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. using illegal drugs, just days after the Philippines passed laws asserting its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
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