It would seem that Facebook is taking their users for a ride. Facebook Philippines is not taking down obviously fake profiles. Just take a look at this profile:

If anybody ever knows of somebody named or surnamed zucchini in the Philippines, and one that speaks Tagalog, please introduce me. Obviously the profile is fake and Facebook Philippines agrees. When we reported the profile, here is Facebook’s reply.

Facebook Philippines said that they have removed the profile but as you can see, the name is still clickable, meaning the profile is still active.

Whereas people are getting asked for their IDs to prove the authenticity of their accounts, this obviously faked account is live and online.

This pattern repeats itself for those with fake names. In fact, most of the profiles we reported were back up in two or three days. Including profiles with names like Banana Banana, Mao Che Dong, and Andres Mabini Rizal.

Apparently, Mao Tse Tung is a real name for a Filipino.

And so is RHadsbhornok Britz.

And so is…

And if you have friends named French Picazzo, please introduce me as well.

And as an example of Visayan humor, Yataki Tombi means kick and step on somebody. According to Facebook, it’s a real name.

Is Facebook Philippines partisan?

It would seem as if Facebook Philippines is partial towards a certain candidate. For instance, it has taken down the accounts of Ed Viloria and Inday Espina Varona. Varona’s account had a blue verified check, yet it was still taken down. Guess what these two media people had in common?

On the other hand, Facebook Philippines allows the proliferation of fake news stories and pages that thrive on spreading fake news. During the failed social experiment, Facebook Philippines failed to act against Oplan Cyber Tokhang, which threatened Ateneans and other anti-Marcos groups with physical harm and account lock outs.

Yet, as you can see, the profiles above and the group that published the cyber tokhang threats remain online, although these are obviously fake and violate Facebook’s community standards.