Here’s why the hate train vs Vice Ganda raised suspicions of a ‘demolition job’

Here’s what the so-called “demolition job” against Vice Ganda teaches us about two common strategies used to attack a personality.

MANILA, Philippines — A popular Filipino celebrity has become the target of a coordinated social media campaign by mostly anonymous or previously dormant accounts, most of which posted similar or identical messages.

After dealing with a misunderstanding about  a contestant’s alleged inappropriate behavior on the noontime show “It’s Showtime”, Vice Ganda has become the subject of a wave of identical comments and posts questioning their and the show’s credibility.

At least five posts posted within hours of each other on Facebook on June 5 used the exact same words to accuse the show of “shaming innocent people.” Several posts across TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) also imply that the show’s staff, besides Vice, communicate in a dishonest manner.

Several social media users have called out the sudden criticism against Vice online, noting that accounts across multiple platforms appear to have used the same “script” based on their carbon copy comments criticizing the host.

Philstar.com’s monitoring shows that several accounts mostly on X have been deployed to respond to these allegations of inauthentic behavior to assert that the criticism against Vice is legitimate. These dubious accounts mostly post hyperpartisan content in a coordinated and inauthentic manner.

This online campaign targeting a Filipino celebrity who has recently been praised for speaking up about current affairs has some of the markings of an influence operation that Philstar.com is tracking across all social media platforms, groups and spaces on the internet.

The presence of accounts that exhibit coordinated and inauthentic behavior is a mainstay in most influence operations that media has reported on.

But these are usually deployed against public figures like Philippine Coast Guard Jay Tarriela, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, with few or zero campaigns launched against celebrities.

In this report, Philstar.com explains how two common strategies typically used in influence operations have been deployed in the coordinated campaign against Vice Ganda.

Strategy 1: Use of anonymous, dubious accounts 

Mostly anonymous or dubious accounts posted against Vice Ganda after a now-viral TikTok video uploaded on June 5 depicted a female “It’s Showtime” contestant allegedly upset after being reprimanded by the show’s staff.

The video came after Vice Ganda retracted their apology to a male contestant who the celebrity called out for appearing to kiss the female contestant on the cheek without her consent.

The TikTok video posted on June 5 by a certain “Jhelo Bernabe” shows a blurred and spliced video of the female contestant crying after supposedly being coerced by the program’s staff to pretend that she was offended by the male contestant’s actions. Bernabe claims to be the former partner of the female contestant’s sibling.

The video has earned a whopping 7.8 million views and is interspersed with commentary from a male vlogger. It also has a text overlay that reads: “GRABE GINAWA NILA KAY CHRISTINE (THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG TO CHRISTINE).”

On the same day, Philstar.com identified two more TikTok videos uploaded by “Judayloveu” and “gengar0701” that gained millions of views. These videos expressed their “dismay” for the celebrity or accused Vice Ganda of similarly kissing a contestant without consent in the past.

“Judayloveu” appears to mostly post about beauty pageants and entertainment content, while “gengar0701” posts about miscellaneous items being sold online.