Senator Leila De Lima and President Rodrigo Duterte. Composite

MANILA – Detained Senator Leila De Lima claimed Sunday that online "trolls" supposedly supported by President Rodrigo Duterte are spreading false information against her in video-sharing website YouTube. 

De Lima said her office has flagged about a hundred YouTube clips for disinformation, including those claiming that she will be transferred to the national penitentiary or that she will face death penalty. 

“These purveyors of fake news are obviously working harder to spread fake news and propagate hate and injustice online. Aside from Facebook and other blog sites, they are also resorting to the use of YouTube to push for their evil agendas,” she said in a statement. 

The "troll army," she alleged, is funded by the government to divert public attention away from pressing issues. 

De Lima said she hopes Google, which owns YouTube, would take cue from Facebook's move to control false video reports, especially among overseas Filipinos hungry for news from home. 
 
Malacañang has repeatedly denied that the government is bankrolling online trolls that are allegedly used to intimidate dissenters online. 

De Lima has been detained at the police Custodial Center since February 2017 over allegations that she accepted drug money from detained crime lords when she was still justice secretary. She has denied the accusation. 

She is not entitled to bail and, if found guilty, faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

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