THE collective committees of the House of Representatives looking into the proliferation of false information on social media and other online platforms will resume today, March 21, its public hearings.
The joint committees on public order and safety, information and communications technology, and public information, which make up the Tri-comm, has issued show-cause orders to individuals and groups suspected of spreading false information through social media.
A cursory reading of the list of invited guests tends to show that this event will be bigger and well-attended compared to previous hearings.
The House announced that testimonies of key government agencies, social media platforms, media organizations and civil society groups will be heard.
The leadership of the House of Representatives expect the attendance of officials from the police, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Justice, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Commission on Elections, and the National Telecommunications Commission.
‘By all indications, this particular House hearing will be a big one, and the public is anticipating an edifying discussion of information issues.’
The private sector, too, was asked to be there. Officials from Google Philippines, Meta (Facebook) and ByteDance (TikTok) need to elucidate on concerns relating to the spread of false information using their various platforms, and how to prevent it. These firms had been invited before and were not able to attend, so this time the three joint committees as one body, investigating the proliferation of fake news, have issued show cause orders to the Philippine offices of Facebook and TikTok for their non-attendance at the recent hearing on disinformation.
Also invited were the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, Manila Broadcasting Co., PressOne.PH and VERA Files, which have conducted extensive studies on the fake news proliferation, how it is organized and implemented, and its impact on public opinion.
Most important for the House tri-committees is the appearance of a group of vloggers who collectively had been making anti-government materials which they considered a threat to national security. This group refused to appear, and has challenged the invitation before the Supreme Court.
Insistent, the House committee scaled up its request and issued subpoenas for the attendance of the following vloggers: Trixie Cruz-Angeles, Aeron Peña, Sass Rogando Sasot, Elizabeth Joie Cruz, Ethel Pineda Garcia, Jeffrey Almendras Celiz, Krizette Laureta Chu, Lorraine Marie Tablang Badoy-Partosa, Mark Anthony Lopez, Mary Jean Quiambao Reyes, and Richard Tesoro Mata.
Other personalities on social media such as Jay Sonza, Vivian Velez, Enzo Recto, and George Ahmed Paglinawan have also been summoned to testify.
Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, who heads the Committee on Public Order and Safety and the Tri-comm, has shown his resolve to dig deeper into the issue at hand. He maintains that disinformation is a national security issue and it erodes public trust, destabilizes institutions, and manipulates democratic discourse.
“We cannot allow social media to become a free-for-all platform for deception and propaganda,” Fernandez said.
By all indications, this particular House hearing will be a big one, and the public is anticipating an edifying discussion of information issues.
We hope the group of vloggers will cooperate with the House and share their expertise to clear up many kinks in the information marketplace.
