The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has expressed as "alarming" the alleged state-sponsored propaganda that Facebook has recently taken down, especially since these were reportedly linked to the Philippine military and police.

"If this is true, the Commission categorically states that this goes against the best interest of the public," said CHR Commissioner Karen Gomez Dumpit.

Should the allegations be proven true, the CHR has vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable since these actions are violations of civil and political rights.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced that it removed two fake networks of accounts, pages, and groups after these violated its rules on "coordinated inauthentic behavior." One of the accounts came from China while the other originated from the Philippines.

The two accounts reportedly coordinated with one another and "mislead people about who they are and what they are doing." They posted news concerning Beijing's interests in the South China Sea, President Duterte and his daughter, Sarah Duterte's possible run in the 2022 elections, criticisms against media outfit Rappler, and Hong Kong's issues, among many other things.

Dumpit said that Facebook's act of taking down networks of fake accounts is a welcome move, since disinformation is a concerning human rights issue. "False information causes serious harm to society, and Facebook has been weaponized against democracy and freedom of expression," she said.

Under human rights law, everyone has the right to receive and impart information. However, this presupposes that the information being shared is correct and accurate.

But even as the CHR lauded Facebook's decision to take down these accounts, Dumpit said that it laments the social media giant's failure to adopt a full rights-based approach to its policies.

"The policy of Facebook should be anchored on human rights, the foremost of which in this case is the right to receive and impart information and the right to freedom of expression," said Dumpit.

Sadly, cyber militias and troll farms are drowning out legitimate dissent. Many individuals and organizations are wrongly being dubbed as "enemies of the people."

If there is one thing the Facebook investigation has proven, it's that the country's policymakers need to create laws against those individuals who continue to spread disinformation.

"Apart from resorting solely to new laws, much of the work should be focused on improving digital literacy and critical thinking among internet users to reduce the impacts of disinformation," stressed Dumpit.