MANILA — Penalizing sharing "fake news" and better enforcement of laws are among the ideas pitched by administration bets under the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas to better combat the spread of disinformation in the country, which has long been dubbed the social media capital of the world.

If ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo gets his way, even those merely sharing disinformation should be held accountable.

"Alam mo nang fake content minsan... ise-share mo lang ang reason mo ay 'shinare ko lang naman ho' (Even if you know it's fake, you might share it and just use the excuse that 'I only shared it'). It is your responsibility to check and double check," he said.

"Kailangan ho tayo may batas din doon pati ‘yong mga nagse-share-share na ‘yan sasabit din kasi parang kino-condone mo alam mo namang fake."

(We should have a law where even those who share this are held accountable because it's like you're condoning something that you know is fake)

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'FAKE NEWS' A SERIOUS ISSUE

According to Social Weather Stations survey results released this month, nearly six in every ten Filipinos sees "fake news" on social media as a serious problem.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of respondents in the same survey said "fake news" in media is a serious issue.

Proposals to penalize making and spreading "fake news" are not new but risk conflict with freedom of speech and the press. 

The Revised Penal Code already lists "unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances" and libel as crimes.

During the pandemic, an emergency law also penalized spreading "false information" on the COVID-19 crisis.

All these provisions have been used against legitimate criticism and commentary.

LEGISLATION VS 'FAKE CONTENT' A PRIORITY 

Former Senate President Vicente Sotto and reelectionist Sen. Francis Tolentino both backed possible legislation to curb disinformation.

"I’m ready for the bill to be filed... it's one of the first bills that I will file. Anti-fake news and anti-fake content and penalties for those who produce those fake news," Sotto said.

Tolentino meanwhile said he "[supports] any initiative that would ferret out the truth, exercise responsible journalism without diminishing freedom of expression and of the press."

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay said more than just legislation, government must make sure that people are actually held accountable for engaging in and spreading disinformation.

Senatorial Candidate Abby Binay wants to make sure spreaders of fake news are actually held accountable.

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"[K]asi kaya naman matapang 'yung mga tao na nagkakalat ng 'fake news' dahil sa kanila '‘di naman ako mahuhuli' so, matagal bago nila ako mahuli o merong… madaling ma-deny o hindi madaling i-trace sa akin," she said, adding some people who do it might not even be in the country.

(People are brazen about sharing "fake news" because they are confident that they will not be caught or that it would be easy to deny doing it)

She added: "So, ang sa akin, enforcement, makahuli tayo, maka-sample tayo para mapakita natin sa lahat ng tao na, 'hey, we mean business'." 

(So, for me, it has to be enforcement. We need to catch someone and make them an example. We have to show that 'hey, we mean business.'

Former Local Government Secretary Ben Hur Abalos for his part stressed the need to train law enforcement to be better at addressing and going after "fake news".

He recounted that the Philippine National Police has had to, at times, issue statements to allay public anxiety over crimes that happened years ago or did not happen at all.

He said the PNP would sometimes have to verify and release fact checks on social media to address these issues.

"Right now, what is important, ibaba hanggang sa level ng bawat city, bawat munisipyo yung technological expertise nito," he said.

(Police units in each city and municipality should be able to do this)

He added it would be better for the PNP to have more Non-Uniformed Personnel — civilian staff who are not police officers — to handle those matters.

"And definitely it is right na ngayon nangyayari that the laws are catching up with technology... Sa bilis ng teknolohiya our laws but must catch up with them," he also said.

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Disinformation researchers in the Philippines have pointed out since 2018 that "fake news" is spread by sophisticated networks that are often working on behalf of political and interest groups. 

Researchers like Dr. Jonathan Corpus Ong have noted that these networks had become services readily available to politicians and to corporations.

He said then that earnest efforts to curb disinformation would entail going after these networks and their funders and not just individual social media users. — with Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News