Online red-tagging leads to threats, state violence – report

Photo by Dominic Gutoman/Bulatlat

By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — An international human rights group identified Meta as a main digital vehicle for red-taggers and online harassers of young human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Philippines.

Amnesty International Philippines (AIPh) launched their October 14 report titled “I Turned My Fear Into Courage,” summing up how the authorities have used social media, Facebook in significant cases, to stifle dissent through red-tagging. They dubbed Facebook as a “cheap and effective” way for the government to harass and intimidate critics.

“Leading political figures and authorities have created a hostile climate for young human rights defenders, using red-tagging as a dog whistle to incite hatred against young advocates engaged in diverse human rights causes and against student journalists,” the report said.

Red-tagging is the act of labeling individuals or organizations as communists, subversives, or armed combatants, regardless of their political beliefs or affiliations. The Supreme Court in May 2024 stressed that red-tagging threatens the right to life, liberty, and security.

According to the report, red-tagging often comes with surveillance, trumped-up charges through anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency policies, and worse, killings or disappearances.

Impact on young HRDs

“We break down and it’s traumatic. It is not a normal thing to be facing at our age,” said Hailey Pecayo in the report, highlighting her experience as a young HRD, who at the age of 19, already faced terror charges for doing humanitarian work.

Bulatlat closely followed the terror charges against Pecayo. The prosecutors cleared her of two counts of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), two counts of violating the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, and attempted murder, all due to insufficiency of the evidence filed by the elements of 59th Infantry Battalion.

Read: Court junks terror charges vs. Batangas rights defender for lack of evidence

Pecayo is spokesperson of Southern Tagalog-based human rights organization Tanggol Batangan, running rapid response missions, documenting local human rights violations, and joining protests. In July 2022, she went to visit the family of a nine-year-old girl Kyllene Casao who was allegedly killed by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The military disputed the allegation, retaliating against Pecayo and other HRDs. They accused Pecayo of being part of the New People’s Army (NPA) and they filed charges against her. When the complaints became public, she was repeatedly red-tagged by a pro-government TV station Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) and other troll pages on Facebook.

Despite the dismissal of the charges against her in 2023, the harassment, impersonation, threats, and red-tagging continue.

Pecayo’s case is only one of the many cases gathered by AIPh in their report. Mia Tonogbanua, vice chairperson of their Board of Trustees, said that there are many cases in Southern Tagalog, Northern Luzon, and Visayas regions. “Red-tagging impacts the mental health of young HRDs. They have been isolating themselves, they also limit their communications, even among their peers.”

Other HRDs, whose identities are protected in the report, said that the impact of red-tagging extends to their family, peers, and immediate community.

Pecayo and other young HRDs who belong to organized groups,said that community and the “bond of fighting for what is right” motivate them to continue fighting.

“Fortunately, for these activists, they put their fear into courage because they have a community that supports them,” Tonogbanua said.

NOW: Human rights group Amnesty International – Philippines (AIPh) launches their report on the online red-tagging and state violence against young human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Philippines, underscoring the authorities’ use of Facebook to stifle dissent. pic.twitter.com/PwuhcRuU2E

— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) October 14, 2024

Threats emboldened

Human rights organizations have been saying that the establishment of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in 2018 and the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2020, both created under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, have emboldened state actors to commit red-tagging, contributing to the overall climate of impunity in the Philippines.

In the report, it was also underscored that the NTF-ELCAC often portrays student organizations as alleged threats to the state. “No evidence is given for the claim that these student groups may be ‘radicalizing’ young people.”

Facebook has also been the NTF-ELCAC’s key tool to disseminate its messages, most of which deliberately red-tag youth-led organizations like the League of Filipino Students (LFS), National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), and Kabataan Partylist.

“The whole-of-nation approach that we are seeing here is their fear-mongering, the continuous cases of disappearance, and killings,” said Wilnor Papa, Head of Activism and Mobilization at AIPh.

Papa identified the NTF-ELCAC as the government’s primary tool to stifle dissent. “The task force is at the forefront of the hostile environment for young HRDs. This is not only one entity, but a culmination of government bodies, including the Philippine National Police (PNP).”

Meanwhile, the report also highlighted the Anti-Terrorism Act as deeply flawed and open to abuse by government authorities due to its overly broad definition of terrorism, and its authorization of extensive surveillance and freezing of assets without sufficient judicial review. Papa said that young HRDs like Pecayo are not spared from these attacks and oftentimes, it was also supplemented by charges from Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA).

“Adding weight to their online attacks, red-tagging has now been merged with ‘terrorist-tagging’ through which state actors can baselessly accuse young activists and others of being ‘terrorists’ in the context of their supposed advocacy for the communist cause,” the report said.

The intensification of the practice and impacts of red-tagging under these state instruments and policies prompt the human rights group to demand the abolition of NTF-ELCAC and the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act and other related laws.

Algorithmic harm posed by Facebook

The main challenges identified with using Facebook for red-tagging are content moderation and lack of accountability mechanisms for businesses like Meta that operate in the country.

AIPh found consistent failures by Meta to enforce its community guidelines to remove red-tagging content.

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

Meta did not respond to the findings of AIPh. However, they responded to a research letter sent by the same group in July 2024, saying that they will remove the content that exposes someone’s identity with baseless accusation.

“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,” Meta said.

AIPh researchers also found evidence of failures in human rights due diligence by the company in analyzing the approved ads published by Meta on its platforms. Despite its awareness of how red-tagging is being used in their platforms, multiple accounts were seen to repeatedly red-tag youth and other progressive groups through advertisements which would later result in direct threats and offline 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,” Papa said.

Due to these impacts, they asked+ Meta to undertake a comprehensive review and overhaul of human rights due diligence, including the mainstreaming of human rights considerations throughout all Meta’s platforms operations, especially in relation to the development and deployment of its algorithmic systems, content moderation, and ad review. They also asked the company to increase the capacity to review and remove red-tagging content in a timely manner.

Not the first time

It is not the first time that red-tagging has been identified as a central theme of danger among HRDs. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) recently identified that 60% of the red-tagging cases against journalists were committed by state forces. “Defenders of red-tagging have often claimed that the practice does not happen, or that if it happens, it is not done by the government.”

Read: Red-tagging study shows impacts on journalists, stresses need for pushing back

In fact, President Marcos Jr. denied that government officials, particularly through the NTF-ELCAC, are engaged in red-tagging, after the SC declaration on red-tagging.

Papa said that the practice of red-tagging and its dangers can also be traced in the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“This pattern was also seen not only in the Philippines, but in various parts of the world. They are criminalizing protests. We are demanding to stop this and instead, urge the government to create laws that can protect the rights of the people to protest,” Papa said, stressing the need to pass the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act.

On top of the recommendations they sought from the government and Meta, they also call on the state and its authorities to end red-tagging immediately and cease any form of intimidation, harassment, threats, or attacks against human rights defenders.

“We urge young people, various organizations, to join us in demanding a stop to the harassment and violence for HRDs in the Philippines. With our collective hope and action, we hope to create a future where our rights are being protected,” Tonogbanua said. (DAA, JJE)