# WikiSocPH Marcos Disinformation Primer

**Wiki Society of the Philippines** (**WikiSocPH**) is a group of volunteer Wikimedians based in the Philippines or of Filipino descent whose aim is to improve and promote the Wikimedia projects in the Philippines. WikiSocPH is not an official affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation. You can learn more about the organization on its website: https://wikisoc.ph

One of WikiSocPH's activities is working on countering disinformation on the Wikimedia projects especially those related to [historical negationism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_negationism) with respect to former president and dictator [Ferdinand Marcos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos), his regime, family, and legacy.

## Historical and political context

The Philippines is one of the countries with the highest usage of social media and is often referred to as the ["social media capital of the world"](https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/03/1784052/philippines-still-worlds-social-media-capital-study/). The ubiquity of social media usage has been used and weaponized by political factions to sow disinformation, spread fake news, and shape the narrative.

An 82-page study titled ["Architects of Networked Disinformation"](https://scholarworks.umass.edu/communication_faculty_pubs/74/) by Jonathan Corpus Ong and Jason Vincent A. Cabañes detailed their inside look at the structures of so-called *troll farms*, and their motivations and techniques to fulfill their clients' economic and political aims. Tsek.ph, a fact-checking initiative, [has examined fake news and found](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1548694/robredo-is-biggest-disinformation-victim-marcos-benefits-from-misleading-posts-fact-checker) that disinformation has disproportionately favored the now-President and dictator's son, Bongbong Marcos, and made Marcos's opponent, Leni Robredo as the "biggest victim" in the lead-up to the May 2022 elections.

## Activities and projects

WikiSocPH has collaborated with allied institutions to ensure that the information in Wikipedia related to Ferdinand Marcos is accurate and does not promote historical negationism.

### Wikipedian in Residence (2018–2019)

The [Bantayog ng mga Bayani](https://www.bantayog.org/) is a foundation that maintains a memorial, museum, and library dedicated to remembering and honoring the heroes, martyrs, and victims of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

WikiSocPH partnered with the Bantayog who hired a Wikimedian in Residence (WiR), the first in Southeast Asia, to help digitize the Bantayog’s library, to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of articles related to the Ferdinand Marcos regime, and to organize Wikimedia events and workshops to the Bantayog’s constituency of museum visitors, library researchers, and supporters.

*More information: https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedian_in_Residence_at_Bantayog_ng_mga_Bayani*

### HRVVMC Wikipedia Edit-a-thons (2020–2022)

The [Human Rights Violations Victims' Memorial Commission](https://hrvvmemcom.gov.ph/mandate-function/) (HRVVMC), a government agency tasked with documenting the human rights violations that occured during the dictator's regime and to establish a museum and a roll of victims. With the return of the Marcoses back to the presidency, the fate of HRVVMC is in limbo. Already, HRVVMC's memorial website, [The Freedom Memorial](https://thefreedommemorial.ph/), is offline.

WikiSocPH was tapped by the HRVVMC to help design training modules to train volunteers on how to edit Wikipedia articles related to the Marcos family and their regime. From 2020 to 2022, the Commission has conducted four Wikipedia edit-a-thons held in either September or February to commemorate the declaration of martial law in September 1972 and the People Power Revolution in February 1986 that ended the dictatorship.

- September 2020: [First Martial Law Wikipedia Edit-a-thon](http://web.archive.org/web/20210621120817/https://thefreedommemorial.ph/latest-releases/the-hrvvmcs-first-martial-law-wikipedia-edit-a-thon/)
- February 2021: [First People Power Wikipedia Edit-a-thon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:First_People_Power_Wikipedia_Editathon_-_February_2021)
- September 2021: [2021 Martial Law Wikipedia Edit-a-thon](https://www.upou.edu.ph/announcement/2021-martial-law-wikipedia-edit-a-thon/)
- February 2022: [The Battle for Memory: The 2nd People Power Wikipedia Edit-a-thon](https://hrvvmemcom.gov.ph/the-battle-for-memory-the-2nd-people-power-wikipedia-edit-a-thon/)

## Media coverage

The following is a non-exhaustive list of media articles or videos that discuss Marcos disinformation on Wikipedia and/or feature one or more members of WikiSocPH:

* Celera, Lex (2016). [“Martial Law History Is Being Changed On Wikipedia”](https://www.scoutmag.ph/11091/people-editing-information-wikipedia-pages-related-martial-law/). *Scout Magazine*.
* Lamb, Kate (2 August 2017). [“Wiki warriors: activists fighting to keep truth of brutal Marcos regime in Philippines alive”](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/02/wiki-warriors-activists-fighting-to-keep-truth-of-brutal-marcos-regime-in-philippines-alive). *The Guardian*.
* [“The battle for truth on Wikipedia”](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/931177/ferdinand-marcos-marcos-martial-law-historical-revisionism-wikipedia-carlos-nazareno-wikipedia-warriors) (17 September 2017). Inquirer.net
* [“Modern-day warriors fight to protect history”](https://youtu.be/mP2swMHjEkw) (22 September 2017). CNN Philippines.
* Subingsubing, Krixia; Ramos, Mariejo S. (25 February 2021). [“‘Editing’ Edsa: Battle rages online vs trolls, revisionists”](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1399866/editing-edsa-battle-rages-online-vs-trolls-revisionists). *Philippine Daily Inquirer*.
* Cabato, Regine; Mahtani, Shibani (12 April 2022). [“How the Philippines’ brutal history is being whitewashed for voters”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/12/philippines-marcos-memory-election/). *TheWashington Post*.
* Promchertchoo, Pichayada (7 May 2022). [“‘Enormous machine spreading disinformation’ casts shadow over Philippine presidential contest”](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/philippines-presidential-election-disinformation-mislead-voters-bongbong-leni-2667791). CNA.
* [“The Philippines’ Fake News Epidemic: Who Wins And Who Loses?”](https://youtu.be/qcKXNmD1rZI). CNA Insider: Fact Vs Fiction. (_Segment starts at 22:30_)