MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate the sudden surge of fake or dummy accounts on Facebook.
DOJ secretary Menardo Guevarra said that he directed DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime to coordinate with the cybercrime units of both the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to investigate the duplication.
“This gives me cause for worry,” Guevarra said in a statement on Sunday afternoon. “We don’t need false information at a time when we’re dealing with a serious public health crisis.”
National Privacy Commission (NPC) Commissioner Raymund Liboro, for his part, acknowledged that his office have received several reports over the dummy Facebook accounts that have victimized Filipino data subjects which they are currently monitoring.
“While the extent of these incidents are not yet fully detected as of this time, we have been receiving reports from different sectors, mostly coming from academic institutions,” Liboro said in a statement.
Liboro added that the NPC have brought the complaints to Facebook Representative in the Philippines Clare Amador, who has committed to immediately report their findings as soon as it is available.
Early Sunday, the University of the Philippines Office of the Student Regent sounded alarm after fake Facebook accounts of their students and faculty members surfaced days following their in campus protest against the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill.
“We are encouraging students not to panic and instead help each other in reporting suspicious accounts only. We just need to stand together against possible tactics seeking to silence our voice. Stay safe everyone,” it said in a statement.
Tug-ani, the official student publication of UP Cebu, first reported how several Facebook pages copying the usernames of students from the said campus made rounds online. This came following the arrest last Friday of some students who joined an anti-terrorism bill protest in the area.
“Dozens of empty duplicate accounts bearing active usernames of UP Cebu students surface tonight. Victims speculate that this might involve identity theft or targeted attacks against UP students. Check your name, Iskolar!,” it said.
De La Salle University also came out with the same statement with regards to their students and faculty members who have found to have duplicate Facebook accounts./PN
