ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship Online Content Manipulation & Restrictions Bulatlat, one of the websites subject to the order, State authorities also block access to websites and seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order online news outlets. On June 8, 2022, the National and/or a writ of preliminary injunction on the NTC Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered memorandum.72 In August 2022, the Court ordered the blocking of access to the independent news the NTC to cease access blocking and granted websites Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly on accusations the independent media group’s application for an that they publish “misinformation” and support local injunction.73 The NTC, however, did not immediately terrorist organisations.69 National Security Adviser execute the order, prompting Bulatlat’s managing Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said that the order was issued company, Alipato Media, to file an indirect contempt pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act, citing provisions petition against the NTC to compel implementation on incitement of and recruiting to commit terrorism. of the order.74 The blocking of these sites was condemned by the NUJP, who stated that it “leaves a gap in discourse and in the flow of information and highlights the threat posed by the Anti-Terrorism Law on freedom of expression and on freedom of the press.”70 “ [T]he journalism community and the communities that we report about and must stand together against government moves to harass, restrict and silence any of us to keep the press free for all of us. - Anonymous (NUJP) filed a civil lawsuit at the Quezon City Trial Court The disruption of online expression is furthermore conducted by changing public narratives about sensitive political issues. During the May 2022 election period, politicians and political parties coordinated harassment campaigns to delegitimise critics and the media.75 In the research project conducted by Digital Public Pulse (DPP), researchers identified several indicators of “networked political manipulation” on social media, including influential accounts taken down before analysis, obscure accounts widely shared, supposedly non-political pages sharing significant political content, and inflammatory attacks on politicians and media.76 These accounts, termed “anti-democratic” actors, contribute to the influence of politicians on social media without being covered by electionrelated policies. Their freedom to spread partisan content without identity disclosure shields them from scrutiny. Platforms address such manipulation differently, with Facebook and YouTube conducting takedowns for coordinated inauthentic behaviour or influence operations, while Twitter handles it under its platform manipulation policy. Further, requests to limit access to or remove 71 content were reported by tech companies. Meta restricted access to 13 items on Facebook in 2020, one of which was based on a “private report of defamation” and to 25 items in 2021 on Facebook and Instagram.”77 Between January and June 2022, The Philippines 229