#TrollCaseStudy
By Raïssa Robles
A certain Erwin Datanagan, who claims to work as a technician for Western Digital Corporation in California, posted the following comment on my Facebook page:
“Mga tulad mong tao ang dapat ma ejk. Wala kayong karapatang mabuhay! Mga salut sa lipunan! Pesteng yawa! Kaya tayo hindi umaasenso dahil sa mga bayarang puta tulad ninyo!
Here’s the translation:
Your kind should be murdered. You have no right to live! You are the scum of society! You are a pest! That’s why we do not progress (as a nation) because of paid whores like you!
Below is a screen cap of Erwin Datanagan’s post on my public Facebook Community Page for my blog raissarobles.com.
Initially, I thought I would ignore it.
But I had vowed to myself that I would no longer let such vile threats pass. I would confront it head-on because no one has a right to issue such vile threats on the Internet against anyone. No one has a right to malign me as a professional journalist.
In the real world, these words that Erwin Datanagan posted are considered grave threats—a crime punishable with a jail term and a fine.
I took a screen cap of his threat and posted it to the top of my Facebook community page where everybody could see it. It’s the screencap you see above
Some minutes after people started condemning Datanagan’s remarks, I noticed something. He had changed his Facebook name. He suddenly became @Erwin Tuyhakaw.
I could tell it was still him because although he had changed his name, the contents of his page were the same as Datanagan’s. Except that Datanagan mentioned his employer Western Digital while Tuyhakaw made no mention of his place of work.
The only difference between @Erwin Tuyhayaw and @Erwin Datanagan was that Datanagan posted on Facebook that he was a “Computer Technician at Western Digital Corporation”, with a link to the Western Digital Facebook page. This had been erased on the Facebook page of @Erwin Tuyhakaw.
There are other other simple ways to prove that @Erwin Tukhayaw and @Erwin Detanagan ARE ONE AND THE SAME PERSON.
I compared the two accounts:
Both Erwin Tuyhakaw and Edwin Datanagan studied Electronics and Communications Engineering at the College of Technologies Sciences-Cebu
Both got married on June 19, 2017.
Both live in Sta. Ana, California.
Both joined Facebook in June 2017.
Both had the same photo with the same baby.
After some more minutes the account of @Erwin Tuyhakaw a.k.a @Erwin Datanagan vanished altogether
I also found Datanagan’s LinkedIn account, but that too suddenly disappeared. A bully too cowardly to face the music?
The vileness of Datanagan’s/Tuyhakaw’s remarks seemed to encourage others to chime in with their own charming comments.
Bennette Jameson Zobel Espino agreed I should die.
Kimiko Raleavna Tutor Samsuya posted his own threat which said:
“isa pa tong bayarang journalist, ang dapat sa mga tulad nyong bayaran at walang dignidad ay binabalatan ng buhay at sinusunog eh…buhay pa kayo pero gusto na nang taong bayan ang inyong pag kamatay.”
[This is another paid journalist. People like you without dignity ought to be skinned alive and burned.. You are still alive but the people already want your death.”]
Unfortunately, I could no longer find @Kimiko Raleavna Tutor Samsuya on Facebook.
Now, I’ve long stopped reporting threats to Facebook because it has always told me that the posts do not violate FB community standards.
So on January 6, 2018, I posted on Twitter about @Erwin Datanagan.
On January 8, 2018, Western Digital tweeted back to me that it was looking into what I had posted.
Here are other leads that Western Digital can verify, using Erwin Datanagan’s biodata on file with the company, if he really works there. Both @Erwin Datanagan and @Erwin Tuyhakaw claim on FB to have studied in two schools:
@Erwin Datanagan is one of the thousands of Filipinos who obviously believe they can threaten and wish harm on strangers who question the wisdom of Philippine government policies.
As I told National Public Radio earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte brings out the monster in the Filipino. See Journalist Says Supporters Of Philippine President-Elect Threaten Her Online
And this #TrollCaseStudy of @Erwin Datanagan is proof of this.
How can a young man who has never met me, newly-married and with a baby daughter make such vile, baseless threats? Threats that I don’t deserve as a journalist and as a human being. And accuse me just like that of being a paid hack, when all these years this blog is funded only by me?
Perhaps if he really does work for Western Digital, his employers could ask him.
netty says
Out of topic but this is about anchor babies in the US. The so called dreamers and other wealthy Chinese and who knows Fil- Chi personalities are paying a lot of money from$ 40k to $80 k to give birth to fulfill their dream of becoming US citizens. Are some celebrities guilty of this? I know when its time to give birth they readily go the U.S. to do the tourism maternity visit.Look around , you will know them :)
http://thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01/feds-raid-20-chinese-immigrant-birth-hotels-los-angeles/
raissa says
I believe Kitty Duterte was born in the US.
kalahari says
Dear Raissa, pls investigate/write an article about the SEC revocation of license of the online news organization RAPPLER. LP President Kiko Pangilinan and the minority bloc in the senate denounced the SEC move and call for solidarity and urge the people to “come together” to speak up about the SEC unexpected action
Parekoy says
KAKOTOPIA
Politicians always promise to make our country in state of UTOPIA if we elect them. Duterte expectedly did the same during the campaign period.
Sadly he failed to deliver and now we are living in a surreal and so real dystopia or kakotopia.
Definition:
kalahari says
@Parekoy, i beg to disagree with your commentary per latest SWS poll showing that PRRD’s trust rating rose in the last quarter of 2017 with an “excellent” net trust rating of 75 points.
The survey found 83% of adult Filipinos with “much trust” and 7% with little trust in Duterte, while 10% said they’re “undecided”, a change from the 73% “much trust”, 12% “little trust,” and 15% undecided he got last last September.
http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/.01/11/18/duterte-rebounds-with-excellent-trust-rating-sws
arc says
I dont believe in ratings lalo na sa political climate ngayon. stuff the polls.
arc says
para sa akin, kung sino-sino ang mga nag-sponsor ng polls, mostly get their money back. polls are biased towards them, not against. yan baga ang bread and butter nila.
arc says
polls can be paid to sway and influence public opinions.
Felipe de Leon, Jr. says
Thank you Raissa for upholding Filipino dignity and exposing the monsters that have been spawned by our present government which seems to be a murderous syndicate. We should not descend to the level of the beast because it is easier to become a brute than to be an angel. We need to always be models of nobility and humaneness to counteract the evil influences from the highest levels of government. “Madaling maging tao, mahirap magpakatao.” The least we can do is to be examples of pagpapakatao to be able to pull up fellow Filipinos who have descended into the murky depths of hellish behavior.
raissa says
Thank you, Felipe.
Joshua Coppola says
His US phone number: (714) 305-6906 (Santa Ana, CA)
His Cebu address: Datanagan, Erwin
Villa Del Rio Babag 2 Mactan Lapulapu
arc says
happy new year sa imoha, joshua, malipayong bag-ong tuig!
salamat sa info.
Joshua Coppola says
Or try this: (714) 998-8760
US address: 4201 W 5th St APT 216
Santa Ana , CA 92703
Andrew Craig-Bennett says
Like many people I am looking forward to Western Digital’s detailed response without the results of their investigation.
raissa says
I am, too.
Mia says
There should be an alternative means of communication among the different civil society orgs and their members (including the fb groups) in case FB suddenly shuts down communications when people start going out to the streets for an honest-to-goodness onetime bigtime revolution. If FB is in the pocket of Duterte and Gloria Arroyo, we cannot trust it.
raissa says
True.
aberato says
we can still effectively use the ever reliable guerrilla means of communication maam. we will not be hog-tied by FB anymore.
Monette Flores says
I received a similar threat of bodily harm on me and my family. And it came from a high school mate (!). I posted a screenshot of this comment on my FB page and complained on our high school batch page. He closed his FB page. I want to see him say that same comment to my face when we have our high school reunion in a few months’ time.
raissa says
Keep us posted.
And take care.
Joyce says
Please blur the child’s face.
raissa says
I tried. I will try again.
raissa says
I have blurred it.
kalakala says
have more strength and courage, as usual, ma’am raissa. we are praying for you and your family.
raissa says
Thank you.