OpenAI bans Philippine PR firm that flooded TikTok and Facebook with pro-Marcos AI comments

OpenAI banned accounts linked to a Philippine marketing firm that used ChatGPT to churn out thousands of partisan comments on TikTok and Facebook, a campaign the company dubbed Operation “High Five.” The actor, identified as Comm&Sense Inc, ran a multi-stage influence operation designed to boost President Bongbong Marcos and criticize Vice-President Sara Duterte, often nicknaming her “Princess Fiona” in the short, emoji-laden posts.

The scheme, detailed in OpenAI’s June 2025 threat report, was more clumsy than clever. The firm used ChatGPT for content analysis, bulk comment generation, and even crafting PR pitches to sell the covert service to its client. They operated five TikTok channels pushing Marcos’ agenda, each posting identical videos with different captions. Dozens of sockpuppet accounts then replied with AI-generated praise. On Facebook, they targeted comment sections of mainstream news outlets, which had no connection to the operation.

Here’s the twist: it barely worked. OpenAI’s investigation found that none of the identified comments received more than single-digit likes or replies. The actor’s own prompts revealed a goal to “inundate” comment sections, but the result was a shout into the void. On the IO impact Breakout Scale, it scored a Category 2—activity on multiple platforms, but zero evidence real people amplified it.

This isn’t a sophisticated espionage plot; it’s a marketing company treating political discourse like a cheap social media campaign. The real signal here is the industrialization of these tactics. The actor repeatedly tried to return to OpenAI’s models after the initial ban, suggesting this is a business line they intend to keep selling. The failure of this specific campaign is reassuring, but it masks a more tedious reality: the platforms are now a playing field for low-budget, low-impact AI noise that muddies real conversation without ever going viral.