[DECODED] Pro-China accounts attack LANS after content creator’s West PH Sea feature

Educational content creator LANS was subjected to disinformation and attacks after her feature on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on July 18. A social media scan by data forensics group The Nerve found Facebook posts that mention LANS spiking on the days immediately following the content creator’s posts featuring Pag-asa Island in mid-July. These posts included those that called LANS “ignorant” while spewing disinformation on the West Philippine Sea, and those that accused the content creator of being funded by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (LANS has denied being paid for her WPS content.) Behind these posts are accounts that have purported pro-China narratives in the context of the WPS. These attacks happened as tensions between the Philippines and China persist, 10 years after the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s claim over the South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The rise of LANS, and her exposure to attacks The rise of the 24-year-old LANS, born Louise Anne Nagal, was nothing short of meteoric. The veterinary medicine student — renowned for her simple, girl-next-door personality and her educational content about animals and other trivia — had garnered 2 million followers on Facebook alone as of June 17, shooting up to six million by the end of June, ABS-CBN reported. As LANS’ public exposure grew, so did public conversations that surrounded her. On June 23, the content creator went viral when she called out those who pitted her against other women content creators, advocating that all of them should be respected, no matter the type of content they put out. Almost a month later, LANS was put under the spotlight once again when she shared about her visit to Pag-asa Island in the WPS, which she first posted about on July 15. Through an invitation from the Philippine Air Force, the content creator traveled to the island and interviewed residents and government workers about their lives and struggles, set against the backdrop of persisting tensions between the Philippines and China. In The Nerve’s analysis of more than a thousand public Facebook posts that mentioned the content creator in the past two weeks, the posts spiked on the days after LANS posted about her WPS feature. This happened on two separate occasions — when LANS teased the upcoming vlog on July 15, and when she posted the whole vlog on July 18 and 19. A couple of Facebook posts stood out in The Nerve’s analysis, found to have spread attacks and disinformation against LANS and her WPS content, calling her ignorant and accusing her of being funded by the US. LANS outrightly denied allegations of being paid at the beginning of her July 18 vlog, saying the content was “voluntary.” “We created this content because we want to use our platform to share, raise awareness among our fellow Filipinos about the West Philippine Sea, and remind every citizen that understanding our nation’s history, sovereignty, and territorial rights is a shared responsibility,” she wrote. “Patriotism is not for sale, and love for one’s country should never be mistaken for paid propaganda,” she added. One of the most engaged posts was by Duterte propagandist Tio Moreno — who has created a new Facebook page named Cho Moreno — on July 18. In his post titled “DEBUNKING THE IGNORANCE OF LANS,” Moreno falsely claimed that the Philippines claiming the West Philippine Sea has no legal basis, and also insinuated that the Philippines made a sweeping claim on the South China Sea. Both are false. What the Philippines claims is its sovereign rights over its EEZ, now formally named the WPS. This is validated by the landmark July 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and is anchored in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The ruling also invalidated China’s sweeping claim over the South China Sea through its “nine-dash line,” and declared the country’s large-scale land reclamation in the area harmful to marine ecosystems and its interference with Filipino fisherfolk in the WPS unlawful. [FACT CHECK: International law backs PH claim to the West Philippine Sea] Moreno’s post still garnered around 5,000 reactions, comments, and shares as of writing. IGNORANCE OF LANS? Amid LANS’ vlog feature on the West Philippine Sea, Facebook user Cho Moreno calls the content creator ignorant while spewing disinformation on the landmark arbitral ruling that validated the Philippines’ sovereign rights on the WPS. The Nerve screenshots Meanwhile, a page named Thriving Mindanao Islands Progress (TMIP), in multiple Facebook posts, alleged that LANS was paid by the CIA for the WPS trip. Similar allegations of being CIA-funded have been hurled against news outlets and fact checkers that are critical of the government, purporting them as mouthpieces of the US in the China versus US narrative warfare. TMIP has also consistently shared pro-China content, sharing propagandic posts by the Chinese Embassy, in particular, accusing the Philippines for “disrupting peace” in its joint patrols in the WPS and attacking Philippine government officials, among others. PAID BY CIA? Amid LANS’ vlog feature on the West Philippine Sea, Facebook user Cho Moreno calls the content creator ignorant while spewing disinformation on the landmark arbitral ruling that validated the Philippines’ sovereign rights on the WPS. The Nerve screenshots The comment section had not been spared from disinformation, too. A Facebook post by GMA News that reported on LANS’ WPS feature — which is the post in The Nerve’s analysis not published by LANS that got the most engagement, at more than 66,000 — was also bombarded with the same disinformation proliferated by Moreno and TMIP. IN THE COMMENTS, TOO. Disinformation against content creator LANS after her West Philippine Sea feature was also spotted in a comment section of a highly-engaged news report. The Nerve screenshots Pro-China narratives and attacks have been spreading in Philippine digital spaces for years, undermining the Philippines’ rights to its EEZ, accusing civilians that assert those rights of being US-funded, and painting the Philippines as the aggressor in persisting tensions, among others. Some of these narratives are being spread by Filipino accounts allegedly employed by the Chinese embassy to be online trolls. In defense of LANS and the WPS Several Facebook posts came to LANS’ defense following the attacks against her. “If you’re hating on a Filipina kid dahil sinabi niyang ATIN ang WPS, dalawa lang ang naiisip ko: isa kang bayaran o sadyang traydor ka sa bayan (If you’re hating on a Filipina kid because she said the WPS is ours, that can only mean two things: you’re a paid hack or you’re a traitor to the nation),” read one post. These posts garnered as much as 33,000 engagements, significantly more than what the attacks against LANS had. This reflected a 2025 elections survey that found 8 out of 10 Filipinos preferring candidates who believe in asserting the Philippines’ rights over the WPS. DEFENDING LANS. Disinformation against content creator LANS after her West Philippine Sea feature was also spotted in a comment section of a highly-engaged news report. The Nerve screenshots Despite the overwhelming support, China continues to refuse to recognize the 2016 arbitral award. It has only been a couple of weeks since the Philippines lambasted the “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist” video from state-run media China Daily depicting the Filipinos as monkeys. Just last week, a member of the Chinese Coast Guard hit a Filipino soldier in the head in a clash at Ayungin Shoal. The same week, China blasted water cannons on Philippine ships two days in a row. – Rappler.com