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Let the games begin: Campaign smear tactics raise their ugly head

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reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A candidate for the 2020 gubernatorial election is at a loss for words, after he was made aware yesterday of a social media message — said to have been shared online since last week — that implicates him in what appears to be a proposition for an extramarital affair.

Samoa News received a screenshot of the text message allegedly sent by the candidate to an unknown woman, asking her out to “dinner, karaoke, walk, or just sitting somewhere” as “two adults enjoying each other’s company.”

Samoa News staff took a closer look at the message and noticed that although the profile photo does show the face of the candidate, with his name — the page is a fake.

When contacted yesterday for comments, the candidate expressed sadness and frustration with what he says are the great lengths people will go to smear his name.

As there are no controls over the creation of fake social media pages, anyone and everyone is at risk of being “cloned” on the world-wide web.

Samoa News points out that fake pages in the names of Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga and Lt. Governor Lemanu Peleti Sialega Palepoi Mauga have also been created. People are reporting getting friend requests from Lolo and Lemanu, and the pages feature their photographs and bio.

With the 2020 gubernatorial elections nearing — and with teams openly announcing their candidacies — campaigns are already getting heated and observers are expecting a resurrection of “Tulaga Stanley”, an unknown person — or group of people — that became a household name during the 2016 elections with revelations of delinquent bank loans at the Development Bank of American Samoa (DBAS), and other confidential information that was publicized all over social media.