New York Times and Inquirer reporter Jez Aznar was criticized by the netizens after he posted live updates from Marawi City that showed the position of the government snipers which can help the Maute Terrorist Group to track the positions of the soldiers.
On his Instagram account, Jeszmann posted videos of the military snipers in Marawi City showing their current position.
Blogger RJ Nieto posted the screenshot of Jeszmann Instagram video that uploaded on May 25, 2017 and criticized him for allegedly giving a valuable information to the terrorist group.
Since May 25, the journalist didn’t post videos about the military operations anymore.
Screenshot of @jeszmann post on Instagram Photo: ThinkingPinoy Facebook page
Even the netizens asked Jes Aznar to take down his posts because it only endangered the lives of the government troops.
The Maute Terrorist Group is more familiar with the place and they can possibly easily track the position of the government snipers via videos and photos posted on social media. That’s why the government asked the netizens and the reporters to avoid giving live updates of the military operation in the southern city.
In a press statement, the Philippine National Police urged the public to “refrain from posting on social media information that would tend to exacerbate the situation.”
This includes providing blow-by-blow reports which include critical information, photos, and videos of the military’s movements that could pre-empt the government’s response to the situation.