[DECODED] When the ‘common threat’ is in our midst

Over the years, The Nerve and Rappler have conducted investigations into how China and its supporters have used social media to spread disinformation In his 5th State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sent a reminder to “friends and detractors” that Filipinos are not “greedy,” “racists,” and “liars.” He did not name who these friends and detractors were, but he immediately followed this statement with a mention of the 2016 Arbitral Award, which marked its 10th anniversary earlier this month. “A common threat lies before us, directed against our dignity and self-respect as a people. Of late, our very humanity has been called into question. Let me remind our friends and our detractors: Filipinos are a noble, kind, gracious, and great race,” Marcos said. This came after China Daily, a state-controlled media outlet, posted a video on Facebook that depicted Filipinos as monkeys. Other Philippine officials, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and lawmakers, called out the AI-generated video for its offensive content and for perpetuating false claims about the Arbitral Award. One such false claim that has been debunked over and over again was that the Philippines holds no legal basis over the West Philippine Sea. Throughout the years, The Nerve found that this claim has been seeded, regurgitated, and used to wrongly discredit anyone who upholds the 2016 ruling. And recently, a prominent Filipino content creator became the subject of such attacks. [READ THE FULL STORY HERE] LANS, known for her informative content about animals and other trivia on social media, posted a video feature of the West Philippine Sea on her channel in mid-July. True to her branding as an educational content creator, her video featured interviews with residents and government workers in the area, who talked about their lives amid the ongoing tensions between the Philippines and China. LANS was invited by the Philippine Air Force. Posts about LANS surged after she posted her video feature. The Nerve combed through public Facebook posts that mentioned LANS following the posting of her video, as well as the comments on a news report about her visit to Pag-asa Island. We found hostile posts calling LANS “ignorant” and accusing her of being paid by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Read the full story here. Over the years, both The Nerve and Rappler have conducted investigations on how China and its supporters have utilized social media to spread disinformation. Here are some recommended readings discussing online pro-China propaganda: 1. China’s troll army: From teachers to riders, all fake Internal documents obtained by Rappler showed how the Chinese embassy ran a sophisticated online operation to push its political agendas in the Philippine online space. It involved creating 300 Facebook accounts and 30 X accounts — all fake — managed by a team of 11 operatives. The documents also detailed guidelines for operatives to mimic real users online, to make the campaign look authentic. 2. [DECODED] How Chinese state-owned Media Unlocked targets AFP, DND China Daily’s offensive AI-generated video is not the first time it has openly attacked Philippine officials and citizens. Back in June 2025, The Nerve reported on how Media Unlocked, a program under China Daily, twisted narratives that targeted former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., to make them appear incompetent. 3. How pro-China propaganda is seeded online in the Philippines The Nerve tracked how pro-China narratives have spread online in the Philippines, and found networks of Facebook accounts, pages, and groups that have manifested coordinated behavior. The first distinct network was formed in 2018 — mainly composed of supporters of the Duterte and Marcos families — and further grew during the pandemic. The network later split in 2022, when President Marcos adopted a more “pro-Philippines” stance in line with his approval of additional sites for visiting US troops. 4. Pro-China propaganda pivots, targets civil society as tensions mount In 2024, China-linked Facebook pages falsely tagged the civilian movement Atin Ito as being funded by the US and Philippine governments. Among the sources of these claims were official Facebook accounts of China’s state-affiliated entities and media, including China Daily. In other news, The Nerve is excited to present a new content series called Readout, which will track and explain business shifts in different Philippine industries. Readout aims to provide you with a clear read on where the market and consumption are headed, what’s shaping demand across different sectors, who the key players are, and why it all matters. Readout will be delivered straight to your inbox every other Thursday starting on August 6. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading