AFP chief reminds troops: Don’t be an army of trolls

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has reminded officers and troops, as well as their dependents, to refrain from trolling on social media.

Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., AFP Chief of Staff, cited the military’s social media policy issued in 2016, which bans the posting or sharing of online materials that violate laws, rules and regulations and spread “information that harm or put other people in embarrassing, inconvenient and/or humiliating positions or put the AFP or any of its units in bad light.”

The directive was essentially a warning against trolling, a social media term defined defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as an act that “antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content.’’

‘Practice caution’

In an official message issued on Wednesday to commanders of the major services and unified commands, Santos said “all AFP military, civilian human resources, to include dependents, are directed to practice caution in publicizing personal opinion especially when engaging in social media activities.”

While posting of personal opinions is allowed, he said, military personnel must ensure that their posts are not misconstrued as official statements or positions of the AFP.

The social media policy calls on members of the military to observe “proper etiquette and a high standard of conduct and behavior in any and all online interaction or activity.”

2007 policy

Santos also stressed the confidentiality of military communications, reminding all personnel of a 2007 policy prohibiting access to official and classified information, and ensuring that all data, names, figures, quotations and statements released to the public are accurate, and restricting the disclosure of information outside the official capacity and responsibility of military personnel.

“Each member of our organization has a responsibility to protect not only our physical structures and the lives they contain, but more importantly the people’s trust and confidence that took many years to build,” he said. “Our ranks and positions as public servants hold us to higher standards of discipline and behavior and we are expected to live up to these in every aspect of our lives.”

Capt. Jonathan Zata, chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office, said the reminder was issued “on account of posts and comments monitored on social media in the past.” He did not elaborate.

Disciplinary action

Zata said violations of the AFP’s social media policy were subject to disciplinary action, ranging from a simple letter of reprimand to penalties based on the Articles of War, depending on the gravity of the offense.

He noted that in the past few weeks, the Armed Forces had observed a number of “simple” violations committed by some soldiers, which prompted the chief of staff to issue a reminder.

“There were information that weren’t supposed to be posted online,’’ he said. “There were items shared on social media that weren’t supposed to be shared.” —JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE