# Fake news in the Philippines

Fake news in the Philippines refers to the general and widespread misinformation or disinformation in the country by various actors. It has been problematic in the Philippines where social media and alike plays a key role in influencing topics and information ranging from politics, health, belief, religion, current events, aid, lifestyle, elections and others. Recently, it has evolved to be a rampant issue against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines and the 2022 Philippine general election.
Following the 2016 Philippine election, Senator Francis Pangilinan filed a proposal to hold an inquiry regarding the conduct of social media platforms that allowed for the spreading of fake news. Pangilinan called for penalties for social media companies that allow disinformation to spread on their platforms.

## History

According to media analysts, developing countries such as the Philippines, with generally new access to social media and democracy, feel the problem of fake news to a larger extent. Fake news websites in the country have been identified as early as 2014. Facebook is one of the largest platforms being an open website, that works as a booster to sway the opinion of the public due to manufactured stories. While Facebook provides free media sources, it does not provide its users with the access to fact checking websites. Because of this, government authorities call for a tool that will filter out "fake news" to secure the integrity of cyberspace in the Philippines. The creation of fake news, and fake news accounts on social media has been a danger to the political health of the country. According to Kate Lamble and Megha Mohan of BBC news, "What we're seeing on social media again is manufactured reality ... They also create a very real chilling effect against normal people, against journalists (who) are the first targets, and they attack in very personal ways with death threats and rape threats." Journalists are often risking their lives in publishing articles that contest fake news in the Philippines.
The 2016 Filipino election was influenced, in large part, by false information propagated by fake news outlets. By New York Times contributor Miguel Syjuco's account, President Rodrigo Duterte benefited from a disproportionate amount of complimentary fake news compared to his opponents. The pro-Duterte propaganda spread across Filipino social media include fake endorsements from prominent public figures like Pope Francis and Angela Merkel. Rappler, a social news network in the Philippines, investigated online networks of Rodrigo Duterte supporters and discovered that they include fake news, fake accounts, bots, and trolls, which Rappler thinks are being used to silence dissent. Duterte's own campaign was responsible for a portion of the misinformation spread during the election; according to a study from Oxford Internet Institute's Computational Propaganda Research Project, Duterte's campaign paid an estimated $200,000 for dedicated trolls to undermine dissenters and disseminate misinformation in 2016.
In one incident, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II tagged opposition senators and other people as masterminds of the 2017 Marawi Crisis attack, based on a photo shared on social media and blog sites that produce fake news. Another government official, Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux "Mocha" Uson has also been accused of spreading fake news.
Several studies reveal that Bongbong Marcos, son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was the main beneficiary of disinformation and fake news, which helped catapult him to the presidency during the 2022 elections. Using social media, Marcos portrayed his father's tenure as a "golden age" for the country and downplayed the atrocities of his father's regime.
The prevalence of fake news in the Philippines has pushed lawmakers to file laws to combat it, like criminalizing its dissemination. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines strongly opposes the spread of fake news as a sin, and published a list of fake news websites.
In February 2025, three committees of the House of Representatives: Public Order and Safety, Information and Communications Technology, and Public Information, began holding legislative inquiries into online disinformation and cybercrimes, where more than 40 Filipino content creators were invited to attend. During the first hearing, PressOne.ph shared that they have uncovered more than 100 accounts with Chinese names that have been supportive of the Dutertes on X that actually originated from Spanish-speaking nations and follow an account linked to China Daily.

## Structure and hierarchy

In 2018, Dr. Jason Cabañes of the University of Leeds School of Media and Communication and Dr. Jonathan Corpus Ong of the University of Massachusetts Amherst released a study of organized disinformation efforts in the Philippines, titled "Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines." Based on participant observation in Facebook community groups and Twitter accounts, as well as key informant interviews with twenty "disinformation architects," conducted from December 2016 to December 2017, the study described a "professionalized and hierarchized group of political operators who design disinformation campaigns, mobilize click armies, and execute innovative "digital black ops" and "signal scrambling" techniques for any interested political client." This network had "ad and PR strategists at the top."

## As a tool of historical denialism

Ong and Cabañes' 2018 study revealed that techniques of "personal branding" and such tools as YouTube videos were used to "tell a revisionist account of the 20-year Marcos regime as 'the golden age of the Philippines' in a bid to restore the political luster of the Marcos family."
The study also revealed the existence of an "Ilibing Na" ("Bury now") campaign designed to create public support for a hero's burial for Ferdinand Marcos using "diversionary tactics to elude allegations of human rights violations and corruption during the term of Ferdinand Marcos" and launching "digital black ops that targeted prominent critics" of the Marcoses, particularly Vice President Leni Robredo.

## List of fake news websites

This list includes URLs for sites that are now down or defunct for historical purposes and to aid disinformation researchers. The following are included after investigation conducted by various Philippine news agencies as well as government policies against fake news.
| Name | URL | Status | Notes |
| 24Seven Daily News | 24sevendailynews.com | Cybersquatted. | |
| 360 News Live | www.360news.live | Domain expired | |
| About Du30 | aboutdu30.info | Cybersquatted. | |
| Adobo Chronicles | adobochronicles.com | | Satire |
| Ako'y Pilipino | akoy-pilipino.blogspot.com | | |
| Aksyon.tv | aksyon.tv | Now down. | Contains false information and clickbait headline. Imitates AksyonTV, now One Sports. |
| Al Jazeera News TV | aljazeeranews-tv.com | | Masquerades as Al Jazeera. Legitimate url is https://www.aljazeera.com |
| All Things Pinoy | allthingspinoy.com | Now down/defunct. | "www.allthingspinoy.com does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information." |
| Angat Pilipino | angatpilipino.info | 404 error | |
| Asian Policy Press | asianpolicy.press | Down again with 404 error. | "...The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this website...". |
| Asenso Pinoy | asensopinoy.info | 404 error | |
| Astig Tayo Pinoy | astigtayopinoy.altervista.org | Account suspended | |
| Bacolod.altervista.org | bacolod.altervista.org | Account suspended | |
| Balita Online | balitaonline.xyz | Now website empty | |
| Balitang Panglahat | balitangpanglahat.info | Domain parked/cybersquatted | |
| Balitang Pinoy | balitangpinoy.ga | 404 error | |
| Blog di du30 | du30.altervista.org | 404 error | |
| Blog di pinoypolitics | pinoypolitics.altervista.org | Account suspended. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: Pinoy Republic, Pres. Rody Duterte News Global and Pilipinas Trending. |
| Breaking News | latestnewz.xyz | 404 Error | |
| Breaking BBC | breaking-bbc.co.uk | Domain suspended. | Masquerades as BBC. Proper URL is https://www.bbc.com. |
| Breezy Network | breezynetwork.info | 404 error | |
| Caster Ph | casterph.xyz | 404 error | |
| Citizen Express | citizenexpress.today | | |
| Classified Trends | classifiedtrends.net | Domain expired. | |
| Cnn Channel | cnn-channel.com | Down. | Masquerades as CNN. Legitimate URLs are cnn.com, edition.cnn.com (for CNN International), and cnnphilippines.com. |
| Daily Filipinews | dailyfilipinews.blogspot.com | Domain expired. | |
| The Daily Sentry | thedailysentry.net | | Publishes false and misleading news constantly. Has disclaimer: "The Daily Sentry does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information." |
| Daily Viral Hub | dailyviralhub.altervista.org | | Biggest traffic generators: Facebook pages Marcos Loyalist, Exclusive DDS Marcos the 3rd Force, and BongBong Marcos United. |
| Dakila.info | dakila.info | Down. | |
| DDS Files | ddsfiles.xyz | Down. | |
| Dedma Lang | dedma.com | Front page now empty. Domain still up. | |
| Definitely Filipino | definitelyfilipino.com | Down. | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| Definitely Filipino | news.definitelyfilipino.net | | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| Definitely Filipino | balita.definitelyfilipino.com | | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| Definitely Filipino | buzz.definitelyfilipino.com | Down. | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| Definitely Filipino | buzz.definitelyfilipino.net | | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| The Delicious Yard | thedeliciousyard.com | | Impostor site of ABS-CBN. |
| Dugong Maharlika | dugongmaharlika.com | Front page blank, has JavaScript | |
| Du30 Gov | du30gov.com | Down. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, Bongbong Marcos Loyalists Movement_Official Group and Marcos Loyalist. |
| Du30 News | du30newsinfo.com | Domain expired. | |
| Du30 Today | du30today.com | Domain expired. | |
| Dutertards | dutertards.info | Front page blank. | Redirects to 1.dutertards.info. |
| Duterte Community | du30community.info | Down. | Biggest social media traffic generators: President Duterte Worldwide Supporters, President Duterte Astig Supporters and Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos. |
| Duterte Defender | dutertedefender.com | Down. | |
| Duterte Express | du30express.site | Down | |
| Duterte Federal | dutertefederal.info | Down. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: Silent No More PH, Duterte Worldwide Supporters and President RodyDuterte – Federal Movement International. |
| Duterte News | dutertenews.com | Domain expired. | |
| Duterte News | du30news.com | Domain expired. | |
| Duterte News | du30news.net | Down. | |
| Duterte News | www.dutertenewswatch.com | Down. | |
| Duterte News | du3onews.info | Down. | |
| Duterte News Blog | du30newsblog.blogspot.com | | |
| Duterte News Info | du30newsinfo.com | Cybersquatted. | Contains fake articles and satirical news passed off as real news. Publishes fake articles about Rodrigo Duterte's critics. |
| Duterte Trending News | dutertetrendingnews.blogspot.com | | |
| Dutertepilipinas.info | dutertepilipinas.info | Down. | Biggest social media traffic generators: Inday Sara Duterte Supporters, President Rodrigo Duterte and Duterte Warriors. |
| Duterte Trend | dutertetrend.info | Domain expired. | |
| Dutrending | dutrending.info | Down. | Largest traffic generators: Facebook pages DU30 Trending News, Duterte Worldwide Supporters and Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters International. redirects to 1.dutrending.info. |
| DW-TV3 | dw-tv3.com | Now cybersquatted. | Imitates Deutsche Welle. |
| Dyaryo | www.dyaryo.net | Down. | |
| Media ni Duterte | dutertedefender.com | Cybersquatted. | |
| Media ni Duterte | lugto.com | Domain expired. | |
| Earning Mania | earningmania.com | Domain is now suspended. | Mimics the design of the official ABS-CBN News website (news.abs-cbn.com), complete with the logo of ABS-CBN. It also contains false information to get Bitcoin cash. No about or contact information. |
| Eritas Times | eritastimes.com | | |
| Federalism PH | jazznews.top | Down. | Biggest traffic generator from social media: Facebook page Philippine Trending News. |
| Extreme Readers | extremereaders.com | Domain Expired. | |
| FilipiNews PH | filipinewsph.net | Now down and replaced as japanese website. | "FilipiNews PH does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information.". |
| FilipiNews | filipinews.info | Down. | |
| FilipiNews | filipinews.com | Expired. | |
| France 24 TV | France24-tv.com | Domain expired. | Imitates France 24 (france24.com) |
| Global News | globalnews.favradio.fm | | Reverted to favradio.fm hosting |
| GMA TV | gma-tv.com | Domain expired. | Imitates GMA 7. Some false stories released by this fake news website included the alleged photos of a gunman captured by CCTV camera during the 2017 Resorts World Manila attack, supposed plan to establish a Nickelodeon theme park in Coron by the Department of Tourism, and the purported criticism of the National Super Alliance (NASA) by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and Jubilee for threatening to boycott the August elections. |
| Go for Win | goforwin.info | | |
| Good News Network Philippines | goodnewsnetworkph.com | Domain expired. | Exploits the name of GNN. Mocha Uson made a callout to follow its Facebook page as "a true alternative for the good news released by the Duterte Admin" in February 2018. Biggest traffic generators: pro-Duterte Facebook page managed by Mocha Uson, Mocha Uson Blog, President Rody Duterte Facebook Army and Team Duterte for Federalism. |
| Good News Today | goodnewstoday.d30.club | Down | Biggest traffic generators from social media: Marcos Defenders Worldwide Unlimited and Rody R. Duterte Movement Universal. |
| Gossip Diary | gossipdiary.com | Domain expired. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, Marcos Loyalist and Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters International. |
| Healthnation Asia | healthnation-asia.com | Down. | Imitates ABS-CBN News Channel |
| Hot News Philippines | hotnewsphil.blogspot.com | | |
| I Am Pilipino | www.iampilipino.com | Error 403. | |
| International Latest Updates | internationallatestupdates.blogspot.com | | Redirect from trendingnewsphfile.net. |
| Kabalita Ka | kabalitaka.blogspot.com | Now Down. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: Marcos Loyalist and President Rody Duterte Facebook Army. |
| Kalye Pinoy | kalyepinoy.com | Now Down. | |
| Kanto News PH | kantonewsph.xyz | Empty. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: Facebook pages President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, President Duterte Worldwide Supporters and President Duterte Astig Supporters. |
| Kanto News PH | kantonewsph.info | | Biggest traffic generators on social media: Facebook pages President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, President Duterte Worldwide Supporters and President Duterte Astig Supporters. |
| Latest Duterte News | latestdutertenews.altervista.org | Account suspended | |
| Leak News PH | www.leaknewsph.com | Down. | |
| Local Hero | localhero.altervista.org | Account suspended | |
| Maharlika News Netizens PH | www.maharlikanews.com | | |
| Makibalita | makibalita.info | Down. | |
| Media Curious | mediacurious.com | Down. | |
| Media Ph | mediaph.info | Now Down. | Biggest traffic generator: Facebook page Sara Duterte Solid Warriors. |
| Minda Nation | mindanation.com | 404 | Owned by Carlos Munda. |
| Mosquito Press | mosquitopress.net | | |
| My News TV | mynewstv.newsgenic.com | Down | Exploits the name of GMA News TV (now GTV). |
| My Prosper | my-prosper.press | Down. | |
| Nagbabagang Balita | nagbabagangbalita.info | Redirects to malware website. | |
| Napankamkumametbeewan.info | napankamkumametbeewan.info | Down. | |
| Net Citizen | netcitizen.co | Redirects to malware website. | |
| News 8 Bureau | globalnews.favradio.fm | Down. | |
| News Center Ph | newscenterph.info | Redirects to malware website. | Traffic largely generated by Facebook pages President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, Marcos Loyalist, BongBong Marcos United, The Filipino News, Pinas Citizen and News Wire PH. |
| newsevery7hours.blogspot.com | newsevery7hours.blogspot.com | | |
| News Feed Society | www.newsfeedsociety.tk | Down. | |
| News Global | newsglobal.top | Down. | |
| News Info Learn | newsinfolearn.com | Now down. | "...www.newsinfolearn.com does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information...". |
| News Media PH | newsmediaph.com | Down. | No "About Us". |
| Newspaper Ph | newspaperph.com | Domain parked/cybersquatted | |
| News Titans | newstitans.com | Domain expired. | |
| News TV | newstv.tulfonews.com | Down. | Exploits the name of GMA News TV (now GTV). |
| News TV5 | newstv5.com | Domain expired. | Masquerades as the legitimate https://news.tv5.com.ph |
| Newz Flash | newzflash.info | | |
| Newsbite.top | newsbite.top | Down. | Biggest traffic generators on social media: President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International, Marcos Loyalist and We Support Duterte Administration. |
| Online Balita | onelinebalita.xyz | Down. | |
| The Philippine Chronicle | thephilippinechronicle.com | | |
| Philippine News Blog | ilikeyouquotes.blogspot.com | Down. | |
| Philippine News Courier | philnewscourier.blogspot.com | | Associated with Facebook page "Philippine News Courier." |
| Philippine News Portal | www.philnewsportal.com | Down. | |
| The Philippine Trend | thephilippinetrend.com | | |
| Philnewstrend | dakilanglahi.info | Down. | |
| Philstar.i-telecast.com | Philstar.i-telecast.com | Now down. | Imitates the website of The Philippine Star. |
| Phnewspride | Phnewspride.blogspot.com | Redirects to Arabic Website with the same domain. | |
| Pilipinas News | fullnewsph.xyz | Now Down. | Translated term was Balita sa Pilipinas. It is not to be confused with the namesake defunct news program of TV5 and Balita Pilipinas, a defunct news program of GMA News TV (now GTV). |
| Pilipinas Online Updates | www.pilipinasonlineupdates.com | Now Down. | Takes some of its articles from Balitang Pinas. "Pilipinas Online Updates makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completeness of the content contain (sic) onthis website or any sites linked to this site" |
| Pinoy Hopes | pinoyhopes.info | Down. | |
| Pinoy News | pinoynews.info | Down. | |
| Pinas News Portal | pinasnewsportal.blogspot.com | Down. | |
| Pinoy Freedom Wall | pinoyfreedomwall.com | Down. | |
| Pinoy News Blogger | pinoynewsblogger.blogspot.com | Down. | |
| Pinoy Speak | pinoyspeak.info | Now Error 502. | Posts satirical articles and passes them off as real news. |
| Pinoy Viral Issues | pinoyviralissues.net | Down. | |
| Pinoy World | pinoyworld.net | Down. | |
| PRRD News | phppoliticsnews.blogspot.com | Redirects to Indonesian Language Website with the same domain. | |
| Pinoy Observer | pinoyobserver.com | Redirects to Scam Chinese Website. | Front page is blank, but full of JavaScript. |
| Pinoy Thinking | pinoythinking.info | Down. | |
| Pinoy Trending | pinoytrending.altervista.org | | No "About Us", contact info. |
| Pinoy Trending News | pinoytrendingnews.net | | "...Information on this site may contain errors and inaccuracies..." |
| Pinoy Trending News | pinoytrendingnewsph.blogspot.com | | "...Information on this site may contain errors and inaccuracies..." |
| Pinoy Trending News | pinoytrending.altervista.org | | "...Information on this site may contain errors and inaccuracies..." |
| Pinoy Viral Issues | pinoyviralissues.net | | Down. |
| The Professional Heckler | professionalheckler.wordpress.com | | |
| PRRD News Tambayan | dds-tambayan.info | Down. | Biggest traffic generator: Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters International social media page. |
| Public Trending | publictrending.net | Down. | "...The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site." |
| Public Trending | publictrending.news | | "...The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site." |
| Public Trending | pinoytrending.altervista.org | | "...The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site." |
| QWAZK | qwazk.blogspot.com | Redirects to Indonesian website with the same domain. | |
| So Whats News | sowhatsnews.wordpress.com | | Satirical news site. Private Site. |
| Socialcastph.info | socialcastph.info | Down. | Biggest traffic generator pages from social media: President Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos Loyalist and Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters International. |
| Social News PH | www.socialnewsph.com | Now domain expired. | Connected to the Facebook pages SNP – Social News Philippines and President Duterte Random Photos. "...does not give assurances as to the accuracy, completeness and currency of its content..." |
| Taho News | tahonews.com | | |
| Tartey Viral | tartey.com | Now down. | Contains articles obtained from News Trend PH, which also publishes fake news. No About US, no Contact Us. "makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of the content". |
| Telegraph TV | telegraph-tv.com | Domain expired. | Imitates British newspaper The Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk). |
| Tatak Du30 | tatakdu30.info | Down. | |
| testhuby.blogspot.com | testhuby.blogspot.com | | |
| The News Feeder | thenewsfeeder.net | Down. | |
| The Tlmes | thetlmes.com | | Imitation of British newspaper The Times. |
| The Volatilian | thevolatilian.com | Now Redirected to scam chinese website. | |
| Thinker Vlog | thinkervlog.top | Down | |
| Today in Manila | todayinmanila.ga | Now down. | No "About Us", no "Contact Us". |
| Today's Broadcast | todaysbroadcast.net | Down. | |
| Todays Top News | todaystopnews.xyz | Down. | |
| Trending Balita | trendingbalita.info | Now Down/Under Construction. | |
| Trending News Portal | tnp.ph | Malware. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | trendingnewsportal.com | Malware. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | trendingnewsportal.net | Malware. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | trendingnewsportal.net.ph | 404. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | trendingnewsportal.blogspot.com | Down. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | trendingnewsportal-ph.blogspot.com | Down. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Trending News Portal | tnp.today | Blank. | "Trending News Portal makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency or completenesss of the content contain on this website or and sites linked to this site". Changed URLs multiple times. Frequently shared by Mocha Uson on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog. Run by Twinmark Media Enterprises, whose entire network of pages was banned by Facebook in January 2019 for spammy practices and "coordinated inauthentic behavior". 220 Facebook pages, 73 Facebook accounts and 29 Instagram accounts were removed. |
| Tomorrow Economy | www.tomorrow-economy.com | Down. | Blatantly imitates the Manila Times website. Same article as Earning Mania. |
| Trending Balita | trendingbalita.info | Now Down/Under Construction. | |
| Trending News Video | trendingnewsvideo.com | Down. | |
| Trending Topics | trendingtopics.altervista.org | Suspended. | |
| Trending Viral | trendingviral.tk | Now down. | "The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site.... will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor the availability of this information...". |
| TV CNN | tv-cnn.com | Domain expired. | Masquerades as CNN. Legitimate URLs are cnn.com, edition.cnn.com (for CNN International), and cnnphilippines.com. |
| Unang Hirit | unanghirit.info | Down. | Imitates the GMA Network morning news program of the same name. |
| Update.ph | update.ph | | |
| Updated Tayo | updatetayo.info | Down. | |
| Verified Philippines | verifiedph.blogspot.com | | |
| Viral Duterte News | balitangtotoo.xyz | Empty. | Traffic generated by Facebook groups President Rodrigo Duterte Facebook Army, Inday Sara Duterte Supporters and President Rody Duterte – Federal Movement International. |
| Viral Portal | viralportal.ml | Down. | |
| World Trends | worldstrends.info | Down. | |
| XOLXOL | xolxol.ph | | |

## Reactions

Fake news sites have become rampant for Philippine audiences, especially being shared on social media. Politicians have started filing laws to combat fake news and three Senate hearings have been held on the topic.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines has also released a missive speaking out against it.
Vera Files research at the end of 2017 and 2018 show that the most shared fake news in the Philippines appeared to benefit 2 people the most: President Rodrigo Duterte (as well as his allies) and politician and later president Bongbong Marcos, with the most viral news driven by shares on networks of Facebook pages. Most Philippine audience Facebook pages and groups spreading online disinformation also bear "Duterte", "Marcos" or "News" in their names and are pro-Duterte. Online disinformation in the Philippines is overwhelmingly political as well, with most attacking groups or individuals critical of the Duterte administration. Many Philippine-audience fake news websites also appear to be controlled by the same operators as they share common Google AdSense and Google Analytics IDs.
According to media scholar Jonathan Corpus Ong, Duterte's presidential campaign is regarded as the patient zero in the current era of disinformation, having preceded widespread global coverage of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Russian trolls. Fake news is so established and severe in the Philippines that Facebook's Global Politics and Government Outreach Director Katie Harbath also calls it "patient zero" in the global misinformation epidemic, having happened before Brexit, the Trump nomination and the 2016 US Elections.