NBI seeks law vs troll farms, AI deepfakes

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is asking Congress to pass a law that would give authorities a clear legal basis to monitor and go after social media troll farms, fake accounts and AI-generated content used to deceive the public.

NBI Director Melvin Matibag said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City that existing laws allow the bureau to act against cybercrimes such as scams, but not organized troll farm operations.

“We are probably proposing a bill to make monitoring this a law because we don’t have a specific law,” Matibag said.

“We’re always hearing about troll farms. But we have no legal basis or legal cover to go after troll farms,” he added.

Matibag said the NBI already takes down fake accounts through coordination with Meta, but a clearer law would help authorities pursue troll farm networks that operate beyond individual fake profiles.

“We have actually taken down many fake accounts,” he said.

“We just stopped reporting it, but we’re doing it on a day-to-day basis. We have coordination already with Meta and they’re very supportive,” he added.

Matibag said the bureau had removed more than 2,000 fake accounts since he assumed office, with some of the people behind them already facing charges or still under investigation.

He said enforcement is clearer when fake accounts are tied to offenses covered by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, including financial scams and love scams linked to collapsed Philippine offshore gaming operations.

“What we catch in relation to the Cybercrime Law of 2012 are financial scams, love scams and similar schemes. Those are former POGO operators that collapsed into different scam hubs,” Matibag said.

He said troll operations are different because they often involve coordinated behavior meant to make one source or narrative appear organic, credible and widely accepted.

Matibag said the problem worsens when coordinated falsehoods are picked up by real users and spread through legitimate accounts.

He said the bureau was also acquiring tools to strengthen its ability to detect and fight such operations.

“We are in the process of procuring tools to combat this so we can fight this system,” Matibag said.

Asked about AI-generated videos and images that make it appear as if a real person made a statement or appeared in a scene, Matibag said this would also be part of the NBI’s proposal to Congress.

“That’s part of our proposal to Congress. That should be regulated because, from my point of view, it somehow also violates your privacy, whether the AI portrayal of you is good or bad,” he said.

Matibag said the bureau would hold dialogues with lawmakers on how legislation could address the misuse of AI, fake accounts and organized online deception without leaving enforcement agencies to operate on uncertain legal ground. /dm