MANILA, Philippines — Twitter has suspended accounts defending President Rodrigo Duterte under hashtags in support of the government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response.

“Hundreds of accounts” were in violation of the social media platform’s manipulation and spam policies, according to a report from The Washington Post on Thursday.

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Quoting Twitter, the report said behaviors that violate Twitter’s rules on spam include posting “duplicate” content across multiple accounts, creating multiple accounts and sending large numbers of unsolicited replies or mentions.

Under Twitter’s rules and policies on platform manipulation and spam, it is said that the platform may not be used if it is “intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience.”

This policy prohibits misleading others by “operating fake accounts” which engage in “spamming, abusive or disruptive behavior.”

Several hashtags in support and of dissent to the President recently climbed the top trending topics on Twitter Philippines following his late night public addresses on COVID-19.

These include #OustDuterte, #IStandWithThePresident, #ICantStandThePresident and #OursDuterte.

GSG

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