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Why Facebook Suddenly Closed 155 Accounts Targeting the Philippines

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Facebook's deletion of accounts targeting the
   Philippines from bases in China shows that the U.S. internet giant
   wants a better reputation in Southeast Asia after letting things slide
   in the past,sayanalysts who follow the case.

   On September 22, Facebook said it had removed 155 of its own accounts
   and six Instagram accounts for violating an internal policy against
   "foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic
   behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity." The accounts
   originated in China and focused "primarily on the Philippines and
   Southeast Asia more broadly" as well as on the United States, Facebook
   says.

   Facebook's move will endear it to Filipinos, who use the service so
   fervently that it has become a de facto official homepage for
   businesses and government agencies but who also worry that it has
   become too permissive, scholars say.

   For Facebook, "it's more from a kind of a PR point of view -- I do this
   at a particular time,somehow,it's seen as positive and I can say,
   'look, I have done this,'" said James Gomez, regional director at the
   Bangkok-based think tank Asia Center.

   Operators of the deleted accounts had posted in Chinese, English and
   Tagalog about naval activity in the South China Sea as well as
   Philippine politics and tried to cover up their identities, Facebook
   said.

   China and the Philippines dispute sovereignty over a tract of the sea
   that's rich in fisheries as well as undersea energy reserves. China has
   the upper hand militarily, frustratingofficials in Manila and fanning
   debate there over whether the Philippines should ask Washington for
   more help.

   The connection to Facebook goes back to 2015, when the California-based
   service joined domestic mobile service provider Smart Communications to
   offer an app that allowed free access to 24 heavily used mobile sites.

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