Fake news photos justifying return of martial law to Philippines

Concerns about the law relate to country's bitter experience during Marcos dictatorship in 1970s

The southern Philippine island of Mindanao — the second biggest island in the Philippines — was placed under martial law on May 23, 2017, after a local group suspected of having ties to ISIS attacked various parts of Marawi City. While many supported the government's decision to pursue the militants who attacked the city, there were also critics who think that declaring martial law across the entire island is unnecessary.

Concerns about martial law are related to the country’s bitter experience during the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s, when martial law led to rampant human rights violations and the restriction of the people’s civil liberties.

Perhaps in order to gather public support for martial law, some officials and supporters of the government started sharing photographs from other countries, trying to pass them off as depictions of the situation in Mindanao. Internet users have been busy debunking the images.

Screenshot of an article posted in a Philippine government news website. The photo of the article is taken from a Wikipedia entry discussing the Vietnam War. Source: Facebook page of Tonyo Cruz