On December 29th, Meta shut down the official Facebook page of Anakbayan PH with no notice. Simultaneously, members of Anakbayan PH had their Facebook accounts locked after repeated attempts of hacking. These events are part of a larger strategy of state censorship of activists, from the red-tagging of activists and land defenders in the countryside to the banning of websites critical of both the despotic Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes, such as Rappler and Bulatlat.
Youth activists have been a critical part of the fabric of Filipino politics for as long as there has been a Philippines, from the student activists in the First Quarter Storm to the youth of Anakbayan standing up against the semi-feudal, semi-colonial conditions that persist to this day. Whenever the ruling class is threatened, it does not shy away from extreme tactics of repression such as suspending the freedom of press to extrajudicial killings and kidnappings.
CPSO Toronto stands in solidarity with Anakbayan PH in denouncing the actions of Facebook-Meta in shutting down legal mass organizations. By shutting down opposition and criticism of the Philippines from progressive grassroots movements while letting disinformation campaigns and troll farms run free, Facebook-Meta’s actions help to uphold the fascist government of the Philippines. Reinstate the Anakbayan Philippines account now! Stop state censorship!
#StopTheAttacks #YouthFightBack