The Philippines approaches a crossroads in the May 2022 general election, as voters face a choice between dynastic power consolidation and reversal of the country’s democratic decline. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has presided over of an erosion of political and civil rights in the Philippines since 2016, is constitutionally prohibited from running for a second six-year term. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, leads a crowded field of candidates to replace him, including Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, the primary progressive candidate and a pro-democracy activist. Marcos Jr.—who has been credibly linked to the endemic corruption of his father’s government and accused of minimizing the atrocities perpetrated under that regime—announced an alliance with vice-presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio, the president’s daughter and mayor of Davao City. Alongside the presidency and vice presidency, the general election spans half of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, and all local executive and parliamentary elected positions.

Although the Philippines transitioned from authoritarian rule in 1986, the rule of law and application of justice are haphazard and heavily favor political and economic elites. Long-term violent insurgencies have continued for decades, though their threat to the state has diminished in recent years. Impunity remains the norm for violent crimes against activists and journalists, and President Duterte’s war on drugs has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings since 2016.

Freedom House has identified the following as key digital interference issues to watch ahead of election day:

• Information manipulation: The Philippine online information landscape is distorted by accounts coordinated to share pro-government content. Coordinated efforts to shape social media narratives about the election have already proliferated. For example, Twitter removed a coordinated network of accounts promoting Marcos Jr. in December 2021, while fact-checkers have identified widespread networks of false or misleading content with negative messages about Vice President Robredo. Online content manipulation has featured heavily in recent elections, including the 2016 general election. Meanwhile, hyperpartisan online news outlets routinely proliferate misleading content. The election is likely to muddy the waters further: politically connected networks and outlets could mobilize to spread online narratives that favor certain candidates, limiting the reliability of online information and shaping online discussion. 
• Harassment: Independent online media outlets, journalists, and social media users face sustained online harassment, at times for their reporting or critical commentary. In some cases, the harassment is coordinated by progovernment social media accounts or the authorities. Certain government officials and their supporters also employ red-tagging—a tactic of accusing targets of links to communist groups—to harass and intimidate journalists, celebrities, and everyday internet users. For example, President Duterte and other officials have conducted a prolonged red-tagging campaign against elected officials and activists affiliated with the progressive opposition coalition Makabayan. Such harassment could drive internet users to censor themselves or journalists to avoid reporting on electoral candidates and campaigns, further degrading access to reliable elections-related information.
• Prosecutions: Politicians and business executives sometimes file libel cases against journalists and other internet users for their reporting or critical content. For instance, news outlet Rappler and its employees, including executive Maria Ressa, have faced several cyberlibel lawsuits in recent years. Candidates could file libel charges to silence online critics or challenge unfavorable news coverage during the election period. The risk of facing civil or criminal penalties could also incentivize journalists, civil society organizations, or voters to self-censor their discussions about the general election.
• Cyberattacks: Technical attacks pose a threat to Philippine media groups, particularly those known for critical reporting on the government. For example, the news outlet Vera Files was briefly taken offline by a distributed denial-of-service attack in December 2021, likely linked to posts fact-checking claims made by Marcos Jr. Similar cyberattacks could impede access to credible reporting and fact-checking relating to the election. Separately, cyberattacks targeting elections infrastructure may compromise the integrity of digital vote counts, sensitive data, or access to information about voting, as with the breach of the Philippine election commission’s servers ahead of the 2016 general election.

The Philippines has a score of 55 out of 100, with 100 representing the least vulnerability in terms of election integrity, on Freedom House’s Election Vulnerability Index, which is based on a selection of key election-related indicators. The score reflects a distorted online information environment and severe pressure on rule of law and the media, alongside routinely held elections marred by increasing harassment against opposition politicians. The country is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2021, with a score of 56 out of 100 with respect to its political rights and civil liberties and as Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2021, with an internet freedom score of 65. To learn more about these annual Freedom House assessments, please visit the Philippine country reports in Freedom in the World and Freedom on the Net.