AN administration lawmaker yesterday said vloggers and online content creators should be subjected to the same high standards as media practitioners to ensure the protection of the people’s rights amid the spread of fake news and disinformation on social media.
Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) questioned why society holds traditional media to ethical standards while allowing digital content creators to operate with impunity.
“We don’t allow TV, radio, or newspapers to publish or air irresponsible and harmful content. So why are we tolerating the same kind of speech on social media, where it spreads even faster and reaches even more people?” he asked.
Acidre said the peddling of lies in social media platforms is now being used by certain quarters “to divide, attack and mislead.”
“Social media was meant to connect us, to help us share stories, ideas, and important information. But right now, it’s becoming something else — something dangerous — because of the way it’s being used by some people,” he said.
“When influencers use their platform to spread lies, attack others, or stir hate, that’s not free speech. That’s abuse. And it’s hurting real people,” he added.
Acidre issued the statement a day after the House tri committee ordered the arrest and detention of social media personalities Lorraine Marie Badoy-Partosa, Jeffrey Celiz, Allan Troy “Sass” Sasot and Mark Lopez after they were cited in contempt for snubbing the joint panel’s hearing on fake news and disinformation, which lawmakers said tend to benefit the camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The tri committee, which is composed of the Committees on Public Order and Safety, Information and Communications Technology and Public Information, has been looking into the proliferation of fake news to review the effectiveness of online platforms in curbing disinformation.
During Tuesday’s hearing, vlogger Vicente Bencalo “Pebbles” Cunanan said the release of a deepfake video last year showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allegedly taking illegal drugs was the brainchild of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who is now seeking political asylum in the Netherlands after he was linked to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
Cunanan said Roque orchestrated the spread of the “polvoron video” as part of the campaign to topple the Marcos administration following his falling out with Vice President Sara Duterte.
At one part of the hearing, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante gave vlogger Elizabeth Joie Cruz a dressing down for calling him “gago” (stupid) in one of her vlogs and even threatened to slap the congressman – acts, which Cruz tried to justify by invoking her freedom of speech.
During the panel’s hearing last March 21, social media personalities who are known die-hard Duterte supporters (DDS) like newspaper editor Krizette Laureta Chu and bloggers MJ Quiambao Reyes and Lopez apologized to the committee after a dressing down from lawmakers.
“It’s both upsetting and honestly quite alarming that some influencers and online personalities today feel like they can say whatever they want — no matter how offensive, harmful, or untrue — without facing any consequences,” Acidre said. “They act as if they’re above basic decency, beyond civility, and free from the responsibilities that come with having a public voice.”
Acidre, who is a lawyer, pointed out that while freedom of expression is a constitutional right, such a right is not absolute. “You can’t just exercise your right to free speech at the expense of someone else’s freedom to live with dignity, truth, and peace. As the saying goes, your right ends where my freedom begins,” he said.
One of the biggest reasons for the spread of fake news and harmful content on social media, Acidre said, “is this mistaken belief that freedom of speech means you can say whatever you want, no matter what.”
“That’s just not true. And if we don’t correct that, we’ll keep seeing lies and hate spread like wildfire online,” he said.
Acidre called for the establishment of “clear and fair rules to reinforce responsible digital behavior, not to silence anyone but to ensure that online speech does not trample on the rights and dignity of others.”
“We don’t need laws that take away our freedom. We need guidelines that protect our dignity, our truth, and our safety. We need to find a balance where people can speak their minds, but not at the cost of others’ well-being,” he also said.
Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said social media platforms should also be held liable for harmful contents after Meta, the company that runs the social media app Facebook, refused to accept liabilities for the spread of fake news and disinformation online, saying individual users are responsible for what they post on the platform.
Rafael Frankel, Meta’s director for public policy in Southeast Asia, told the joint panel that only the person who made the harmful post is accountable for it.
Acop has said it may be time for Congress to revisit the current legal framework for social media platforms “if only to incentivize them to further crack down on these types of illegal posts.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, however, has thrown its support behind lawmakers’ plan to establish a regulatory body to combat fake news.
Frankel has said the platform was “more than happy” to work with Congress on initiatives that would help protect users while respecting free expression, adding that Meta has worked with governments across Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific to develop localized regulatory approaches, balancing safety and expression.
