Popular fake news blog Trendingnewsportal.net.ph taken down day after senate hearing

Trending News Portal, a website known for posting fake news about Philippine government officials and public figures seems to have been taken down just one day after the Senate hearing on fake news.

This was first noted in a Reddit post from yesterday that said the website has started deleting its “PRO DU30 #FakeNews content.”

But as of today, it seems like the entire site has been taken down. When entering the URL: trendingnewportal.net.ph, a 404 error appears.

But because this is the internet, things like this don’t simply disappear that easily. Others suggested checking out internet archive Wayback Machine.

The Reddit user who started the thread also shared a screencap showing that blogger, Communications Assistant Secretary, and President Rodrigo Duterte supporter Margaux “Mocha” Uson shared unconfirmed news published on the website.

Uson has shared articles by Trending News Portal multiple times and was probed in yesterday’s Senate hearing on fake news.

During the hearing, Uson insisted that bloggers like her are not subject to the same journalist standards as mainstream media, even though more than 5 million people follow her Facebook page.

“Blogging is opinion-based, unlike mainstream media, there is an obligation (both sides of the story),” Uson replied when opposition Senator Bam Aquino asked if she ever reached out to the government officials she had made false claims about.

Other similar websites with a different URL but also under the name Trending News Portal are still up as of this posting.