THE powerful Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has turned off the comments section of its highly-popular Facebook page.

Various quarters described the move as timely and necessary considering the existence of individuals spreading disinformation.

“We are temporarily disabling features on our Facebook page to deny trolls a platform for their suspicious activities,” the AFP said.

AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said “troll farms” have been flooding the military’s official Facebook account.

We share the view of the military that this is aimed at making deliberate offensive or provocative posts to manipulate public opinion.

“Talaga namang nakalulungkot na may mga sektor na gustong palalain pa ang nangyayaring hindi pagkakaunawaan ng ating mga lider,” lamented a village executive.

“Kaya, tama lang ang desisyon ng AFP na pansamantalang sarhan ang comment section ng military Facebook page,” he added.

Reports said the AFP Facebook page has more than 630,000 followers throughout the country.

The military has flagged several social media posts spreading disinformation, including claims that troops were being mobilized in some parts of the country.

Admittedly, social media, like Facebook, Tiktok and Twitter, play a leading role in the country’s information dissemination campaign.

And we cannot overemphasize the importance of social media shaping public opinion.

Kaya, kailangan talagang mawala sa social media ang mga kasinungalingan na nagpapaalab ng damdamin ng maraming tao.

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