THE Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Monday pushed for the creation of a state regulatory body tasked to monitor fake news and to weed out troll armies that operate via dummy accounts.
鈥淔rom our point of view, there needs to be a separate regulatory body for social media and this is timely to avoid abuses, but we won鈥檛 stop legitimate opinions or criticism,鈥 PCO Undersecretary Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino.
鈥淲hen people are paid to speak baseless defamation, that鈥檚 not freedom of expression because they are just being whispered to by the person who pays them.鈥
Newly appointed acting PCO Secretary Jaybee C. Ruiz earlier said his agency will study setting up the fake news body to hold vloggers and other online personalities accountable for the information they put out online.聽
At the House of Representatives, House Bill No. 1177 filed on Dec. 5 seeks to impose a jail term of as long as 12 years and a fine of as much as P2 million for those operating online troll farms.
The bill seeks to create a task force dedicated to investigating and monitoring troll farms and prosecuting those behind them.
Social media companies that fail to remove deceptive content from verified complaints on their platforms within a day could get fined P1 million to P5 million per violation, according to the bill.
People who report on troll farm activities and their operations will be protected under the 2021 Whistleblower Protection Law, based on the measure.
The World Economic Forum in a 2024 report cited disinformation as the 鈥渕ost severe global risk鈥 in the next two years because it could undermine the legitimacy of newly elected governments and lead to a highly politically polarized citizenry.
鈥淭his is timely because the actions of troll armies are no longer a joke,鈥 Ms. Castro said.
鈥淗opefully, it will push through, and we can have a regulatory body so that we can know if someone is a content creator, vlogger, blogger, and we can know their identities, so they won鈥檛 hide behind dummy accounts.鈥
Meanwhile, a House committee is considering proposing a measure that would require the registration of social media accounts to curb online disinformation, a congressman said on Monday.
But the proposal requiring registration, similar to the 2022 SIM Registration Act, would likely be taken up in the next Congress, Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V. said in a media briefing.
鈥淒uring the caucus of the Tri-Comm members, it was mentioned that it would be the same as the SIM Registration Act. Perhaps we should also have social media registration,鈥 he said in mixed English and Filipino, referring to a joint House panel investigating the spread of false information on social media platforms.
鈥淭here are no details yet, but we saw a similar possibility with the SIM registration app. So, perhaps it will be addressed in the 20th Congress,鈥 he added.
About 62% of Filipinos get their news from social media, particularly on Facebook, according to a 2024 survey by political consultancy firm Publicus Asia, putting them at risk of consuming false information from parties spreading disinformation.
Bataan Rep. Geraldine B. Roman proposed the creation of a 鈥淒igital Council of the Philippines鈥 that would be composed of representatives from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, social media companies, and public relations firms.
鈥淭his group will come up with their own code of ethics and standards鈥 This would also be where complaints of 鈥榝ake news鈥 victims could be lodged,鈥 she said in the same media briefing in mixed English and Filipino.
Her proposed body should also handle a 鈥渞egistry鈥 containing the owners of social media accounts.
鈥淏ehind these different social media accounts, there should be a name, a person who can be held responsible and accountable,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f you have nothing to fear, why would you be afraid to register there?鈥 鈥 John Victor D. Ordo帽ez and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
