The rise of disinformation during the pandemic has played a crucial role in the outcomes of the Philippines’ 2022 elections. We have seen high volumes of troll accounts, exaggerated claims, false statements, out-of-context narratives, and many other issues.

One particular issue that was magnified during the campaign season is the rise of hyper-partisan micro-influencers and regional news outlets that wear the mask of traditional media institutions.

They pretend to be neutral, create a narrative that traditional journalism outfits are biased, and use troll accounts to affect the algorithm of social media channels and show their popular posts to communities that are gullible to receive this false information.