The Department of Information and Communications Technology warned that “guerilla” POGO hubs may serve as troll farms for the coming elections.
DICT Undersecretary for Cybersecurity Jeffrey Ian Dy said the troll farms may be used to spread misinformation or disinformation and attempt to influence the outcome of the midterm elections.
Dy cited recent incidents of fake job postings which were found to be “using facilities, technologies, and centers as if they are in a call center or POGO.”
“This is a big operation and we are of the belief that the same facilities can be used as troll farms in order to influence our election because they are using social media,” the DICT official said.
“If you can use social media to post jobs online or to post your opinions and to boost engagement, what can stop you from doing the same for political machinations,” he added.
The House of Representatives earlier launched a probe into cybercrimes, fake news, and disinformation peddled by certain influencers and even troll farms.
In November, during the House probe on the links between POGOs and the illegal drug trade, the lead chair of the Quad Comm raised the alarm over a “well-funded and orchestrated” troll campaign to discredit the congressional inquiry.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said: “It’s truly suspicious how there is so much money going around to fund trolls who are very obviously protecting the very people we are investigating here.”
