Facebook under fire for aiding Duterte’s campaign

Social media giant Facebook, that has touted itself as a "tool for democracy," is in the crosshairs in the United States for supposedly aiding the electoral campaigns and propaganda of some populist leaders around the world, including President Rodrigo Duterte's in the Philippines.

Facebook's co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg was first confronted about his company's role in the rise of US President Donald Trump's rise to power in September this year. He vehemently denied the social network's involvement in catapulting Trump to the White House.

"I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That's now what we stand for," Zuckerberg said in a live video on his platform. "The integrity of our elections is fundamental to democracy around the world."

But Facebook CEO has not escaped criticism for creating a team that has gone around countries in the thick of political change to train politicians how to maximize the social networking site as a campaign tool.

Facebook for politics

Bloomberg in a December 21 report bared Facebook's political unit that has allegedly involved itself in digital propaganda.

"Facebook has embedded itself in some of the globe’s most controversial political movements while resisting transparency," the report said.

As early as 2011, Facebook has positioned itself as a campaign tool as it "has asked the U.S. Federal Election Commission for blanket exemptions from political advertising disclosure rules."

In 2015, Facebook's team lead by Katie Harbath, "a former Republican digital strategist who worked on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign," went to Argentina.

Harbath's team trained "politicians and leaders how to set up a campaign page and get it authenticated with a blue verification check mark, how to best use video to engage viewers and how to target ads to critical voting blocs."

Harbath, in a statement sent to Bloomberg, said: "We’re proud to work with the thousands of elected officials around the world who use Facebook as a way to communicate directly with their constituents, interact with voters, and hear about the issues important in their community."

Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, who received training from the team, now "[streams] campaign rallies live on Facebook and, once elected, announced his entire cabinet on the site, complete with emojis."