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the Free CMSWire NewsletterRunning on a platform of good governance and corruption-busting, Benigno Aquino III won the Philippine presidency by popular vote in May, 2010. Having heavily utilized social media in his campaign, Aquino's administration is now actively using social networks as feedback mechanism. Official Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as a blog, have been created to help share messages and encourage comments among the constituency. Recent events, however, suggest that Aquino's government may have pressured Facebook into removing a third-party "Benigno Aquino III" Page and moving its fans into the administration's official Page for better information control.
Facebook Page Started by Fan
Prior to Aquino announcing his bid for the presidency, a group of US-based Filipinos set up a Facebook Page for the then-Senator. The Page was deputized during the election period as an official campaign medium, which the creators consented to. Now offline, the Page had amassed about 1.5 million followers by the time Aquino was sworn in this June, and reached 2.2 million in November prior to its closure.
When Aquino assumed office, one of the first executive orders was to create a New Media Bureau to oversee the government’s social media efforts, which includes remodeling the existing government portal, www.gov.ph into a blog, among others. The government also hired high-profile media personnel and bloggers to run the Bureau.
Officials originally planned to use the Page as an official portal for the president. Negotiations went awry, however. The original owners wanted to make sure that comments on the Page were left unfiltered, but this apparently did not sit well with the administration officials.
Hijacking of a Facebook Page?
The New Media Bureau set up an official Page for Aquino, which grew to 100,000 fans from August to November, 2010.The accusations of a “hijacking” stemmed from the fact that in the second week of November, the official Page jumped from 100,000 to about 1.6 million in a span of a few days, with accounts liking the original Page now liking the official one.
Chart shows an increase in Page "likes" from 100,000 to 1.6 million. Statistics page is from Allfacebook.com.
By that time, the original third-party Page was also brought down by Facebook, citing violations against the policy on creating Pages. "A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes … We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual," according to an email from the Facebook Team.
Is Facebook Just Enforcing Its Policy?
While the creators of the original Page are not contesting this policy, they have qualms with the way the account removal had been done. According to Page creator Ben Totanes' sources in the New Media Bureau, officials requested Facebook to transfer the old Page’s fans to the new official Page without his consent. Moreover, his friends and colleagues who have not “liked” the new official Page have found their Facebook accounts suddenly liking said Page without their respective consent.
Meanwhile, Sonny Coloma, Secretary of the Communication Operations Office, issued a statement implicitly denying responsibility, and points to Facebook simply enforcing its own policy on Page ownership. “It is clear from the foregoing policies that Facebook Management seeks to minimize confusion that may arise from the existence of more than one Official Facebook Fan Page for a public official — in this case, for President Aquino,” Coloma says. He further added a second statement recognizing the efforts of the original Page creators Ben Totanes and Betty Abrantes for their help in the campaign.
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