AI-aided red-tagging on the rise

At least two Facebook pages created this year have joined a network of social media accounts that routinely red-tag members of the left-leaning Makabayan bloc—employing deepfakes and other AI-driven tactics alongside well-established disinformation techniques.

Gabay, which describes itself as a digital creator “guiding and empowering communities through knowledge and public awareness,” was launched on Jan. 21 and had produced 44 Facebook Reels as of April 14. It also created accounts on TikTok, X, Instagram and Threads in February.

The Katunayan TV Facebook page, launched in February, posts a mix of original content and material lifted from Gabay. Nearly all 15 videos on its TikTok account—also created in February—are reposts of Gabay’s Facebook Reels.

Makabayan is a coalition of progressive parties such as Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, ACT Teachers and Kabataan. It has long been the target of intense red-tagging—accused of being communist or terrorist-linked—including during the 2019 and 2022 elections.

Deepfake videos

Makabayan senatorial candidate France Castro and Gabriela first nominee Sarah Jane Elago, along with Kabataan party-list nominees Renee Co, John Peter Gonzales and Jose Paolo Echavez, and incumbent Rep. Raoul Manuel, appear in a deepfake video posted by Gabay on March 11, depicted in exaggerated poses–dancing, leaping, twirling or boxing–and labeled as recruiters for the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Two videos show Castro and Co among a band of NPA rebels in the mountains, transforming into armed cadres.  

In the March 9 video, Castro’s official photo from the House of Representatives where she represents ACT Teachers was misused. Co appeared in her Kabataan campaign shirt in the Feb. 1 clip.

Fabricated audio

A Jan. 31 video depicted Makabayan senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño and several party mates appearing to say that Bayan Muna had been deceiving the public for two decades. One of the fabricated lines said:

Ang Bayad Party-list at 20 taong na kayo niloloko. Kaya ipagpatuloy niyo lang mga hunghang... (The Bayad [Paid] Party-list has been fooling you for 20 years. So go ahead and keep being fools...)

A deepfake voice detection tool gave the audio an authenticity score of 1 out of 100, concluding it was likely a deepfake.

Another video, uploaded on Feb. 25, manipulated Elago’s greeting at Baguio’s Panagbenga flower festival—replacing the word “Panagbenga” with “panagbanga” and implying she was “bangag,” or high on drugs.

Doctored images, texts

The new Facebook accounts also manipulated text–a common disinformation tactic–to label Makabayan stalwarts as terrorists or advocating terrorism.

One doctored photo released on Feb. 18 showed Kabataan nominees and their supporters holding signs edited to read: 

Ang Kabataan ay para sa mga terrorista ng bayan (The Kabataan party-list supports the country’s terrorists)

In reality, the signs were carried in Makabayan’s kickoff rally in Manila a week earlier. One of the them read, “Ang Kabataan ay para sa batayang serbisyong panlipunan (Kabataan is for basic social services),”  and the other, “Ang Kabataan ay para sa hustisya at pananagutan (Kabataan is for justice and accountaiblity)” 

A photo of Arlene Brosas, another Makabayan senatorial candidate, uploaded on April 9 was tampered with to include the NPA logo, the words “Bagong Hukbong Bayan” (the group’s name in Filipino), and the communist hammer and sickle symbol.

The original photo was posted by the Cavite Youth Tayo Movement on March 24.

Red-tagging loop

Gabay and Katipunan TV also repost images and videos from similar, more established Facebook accounts—such as Resibo, Bayad Muna, Bantay Terorista, Cpp-Npa Wakasan at Tutulan, Mandi Rig Ma, Kuliglig and The Truth—and are similarly reshared by them, reinforcing narratives across multiple accounts.

Castro has appealed to the Commission on Elections and the Department of Information and Communications Technology to remove deepfake videos and misleading social media posts falsely linking her and other Makabayan candidates as connected to the NPA. 

In a letter dated March 11 addressed to Comelec Chair George Garcia, she expressed concern over the growing spread of red-tagging and deceptive content online. She invoked Comelec Resolution 11116, which treats such labeling as a violation of fair campaign rules and an election offense.