The French international news agency Agence France-Presse has revealed that disinformation networks have been profiting from online manipulations of news on the South China Sea.

While these profit-oriented networks earn from massive disinformation campaign, they are at the same time stoking the fire of the South China Sea dispute between the Philippines and China, to the extent of putting in danger regional security, the AFP investigation has disclosed.

According to the this has been happening since 2022 when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office and decided to stand up against China over the territorial issues.

Since that time the “social media has been awash with p;osts that often exaggerate the country’s defense capabilities or allude to an imminent war in the region,” the AFP report said.

The global news network said it uncovered “a coordinated network of dozens of Facebook and YouTube channels that direct users to a bogus news website that appears to use artificial intelligence (Ai) to rapidly churn out unfounded claims for advertising revenue.”

“Analyst say it is unclear if the network is directly linked to state actors, but the content often mirrors China’s position on the dispute,” the news report said.

The AFP also noted that about 25 FB pages on “military interests” that contain old photos and videos of supposed army operations. This misrepresentations are done in order to convince readers believe that the United States has been helping Philippines, its ally, to prepare for war.

“The posts taker users to a bogus news site with a history of publishing fabricated articles and YouTube videos on the South China Sea dispute and the war in Ukraine,” according to the France based news agency.

It noted that one “digitally altered picture of Ukraine soldiers transporting crates” made it appear that the US was sending Javelin anti-tank missiles to the Philippines.