A new type of war was waged in 2018 on social media after China tried to exploit the affinity of Filipinos with the Internet until the US platform Facebook found and busted the propaganda offensive called “Operation Naval Gazing.”
The attempt to sway Filipinos into supporting China through such campaigns failed utterly because of the public suspicion of the intentions of China on the country considering its aggressive moves in the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Naval Gazing is the most pervasive of what is termed in the geopolitical sphere as foreign influence operations.
The Philippines provided an ideal target since it is considered uniquely susceptible to manipulation through Facebook, which was the undoing of the US communications application.
Beyond being an American ally, the Philippines is also the most social media-engaged country in the world.
The Philippines tops the world in daily use of social media, with Filipinos spending an average of roughly 4 hours per day on platforms primarily Facebook.
The Mark Zuckerburg creation dominates the Philippine social media landscape with 75 million active users representing 71 percent of the population.
The free use of Facebook through the tie-ups with local telecommunications firms connected Filipinos who cannot afford the still expensive data plans of telcos.
In 2013, Facebook partnered with local carriers to offer free access. The result has been a meteoric rise in Facebook usage since for the poor majority it is the only way to access the Internet.
Facebook’s dominance as an information source drew to it the purveyors of disinformation that is also a mainstay in Philippine politics.
In March 2018, Operation Naval Gazing began creating a series of Facebook accounts, pages, and groups that targeted Philippine politics. The pages promoted the activities of politicians seen as sympathetic to China.
Geopolitical analysts said Facebook’s exposure to Chinese influence operations illustrates a larger strategic evolution and constitutes a direct challenge to “both the US-Philippine alliance and American defense prerogatives throughout the Indo-Pacific.”
Naval Gazing launched apparently in response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the country when he reaffirmed American defense commitments to the Philippines in the South China Sea.
The campaign highlighted China’s assistance to the Philippines during the Covid-19 outbreak as it defended China’s handling of the pandemic and trumpeted medical aid from Beijing despite its dubious benefits and praised China for its generosity in offering vaccines to the Philippines.
Experts thus lamented that China weaponized the American Internet sensation to turn social media against the US-Philippine alliance.
Gregory Winger, an assistant professor of political science and fellow at the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati, said in the face of a similar threat from Russia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization created programs like the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence and a handbook on Russian information operations to help member-states detect and defeat foreign influence operations.
“It is essential that similar programs be developed and implemented in the Indo-Pacific as well. Proactive engagement with partners like the Philippines to develop capabilities to resist malicious cyber campaigns are essential to seize the initiative in the information environment and must be enshrined as a strategic priority,” he said.
Operation Naval Gazing, Winger said “is a warning siren as to whether Tokyo, Seoul, Canberra, Manila, and especially Washington are willing to take proactive measures to defend their information environments.”
The widespread use of social media in the country is both an asset and a liability since the country has become the center of the global information boom but on the flipside, the Philippines has become the world’s laboratory for fake news.