Velez: Fighting the glitch

Velez: Fighting the glitch

I SPENT the weekend checking and reporting accounts that copied my name, four of these have no face, no post, no photos, and no friends.

If you have experienced the same thing, you and I are part of the hundreds of thousands of netizens alerted on this duplicity. Better report them soon. Better ask, why is this happening?

Netizens point out that this duplication of accounts primarily targeted journalists (including me), students from UP, even Ateneo's alumni and netizens who have signed petitions to junk the Anti-Terror Bill or have been expressing their views on the pandemic. There are a couple of friends though who don't fall into these categories, and it's scary.

The Computer Professionals Union put in context that this is how our Facebook world has been operating, "continuous online harassment of critics, and the promulgation of trolls, with the goal to spread lies and sow fear and disinformation." This could be their latest tactic.

Is Facebook our friend or is it a trapdoor to a matrix? Facebook has been our connection to friends and family, to connect with our thoughts and achievements. But it has also been a disconnect with the way we fight, unfriend, or block people because of the "toxic" politics online.

Because Facebook is popular and available through free data, it has been weaponized by politics since 2016. We saw how the president won that election with a well-crafted campaign of what seems like grassroots-based pages spreading "testimonies" wildly.

But these pages turned into online police that either post fake news, or monitor critics that they bully or threaten online. It has bred the worse kind of netizen-ship where people mimic the president's foul mouth, ill logic, and delusions. But soon these pages and fake accounts were suspended by Facebook for violating guidelines and standards such as duplication of accounts.

We wonder if Facebook can continue this kind of patrolling to guard our online security. But so far, the accounts of my "other self" are still existing. Some friends complain that Facebook replied to their report that they don't see these accounts are harmful.

Meanwhile, the NBI says this might just be a "glitch." And police officers and a comedian turned actor assure us the Anti-Terror Bill will not be abused to go against our advocacies or our right to freedoms. But lately, we saw UP students, jeepney drivers, netizens getting arrested for protesting.

But there's a positive kind of glitch. Fifteen Congress representatives are slowly withdrawing their "yes" votes for the Anti-Terror Bill, saying their votes were miscast, or they have reversed their position after careful study. This could be because of our efforts to say no to a bill that represses our rights, including groups like colleges, church people, lawyers, and even big business companies, all saying we must stand against this impunity and trampling of our rights. We are four votes away from having this bill withdrawn for failing to get the majority votes.

We can push back against the glitches, online and on our real lives, through our vigilance and assertion of what is right. Keep clicking.

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