MANILA — Social media platforms should be regulated by the government especially when their internal policies on stopping the spread of misinformation or "fake news" do not work, a lawmaker proposed.

"If their internal policy is not sufficient then the government has to step in. Hindi lang ho ito bago sa mundo. There are a lot of countries [that] also regulate the operation of social media platforms and operators like Meta," Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur said.

He said the Philippines should follow the lead of other countries that crafted laws to regulate social media firms. Adiong pointed to Singapore as an example.

"In fact, in Singapore, the government has already adopted and approved the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. Singapore is one of the most progressive countries in Southeast Asia. So if they can do it, why can’t we?” Adiong said.

While Meta, Facebook's parent company, has policies in place, Adiong noted that they are not enough to combat the proliferation of falsehoods on its platform.

Academics and advocates have previously expressed caution against government regulation of any kind of speech on social media, saying such a policy could be prone to abuse.

They instead advocated for intensifying media literacy programs as the primary solution to online misinformation.

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TAX FROM DIGITAL CONTENT

Meanwhile, Adiong also pushed for a law that would allow the government to collect fair taxes from platform operators and content creators earning from digital content.

“Dapat talaga ho magkaroon tayo ng panukalang batas, hindi lang po doon sa mga fake news, but also to explore on how the government can really earn an additional revenue from all these platforms,” he said.

He said the Bureau of Internal Revenue has yet to craft a concrete policy on taxing digital platforms and operators.

While the government must protect freedom of expression, it also must prevent the spread of harmful disinformation and ensure proper revenue collection, he said.

“I believe the government also needs to see that angle — kung paano magkaroon ng hindi lang ho malayang pamamahayag, but malaya in a sense na hindi ho mabigyan ng maling impormasyon ang ating publiko,” Adiong said. 

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COMELEC TOLD TO ACT VS TROLLS

Meanwhile, senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan on Sunday asked the Commission on Elections to take action against what he said were troll accounts orchestrating a disinformation campaign against his candidacy.

Pangilinan's viral food vlog, where he was seen eating rice and carabao milk from a pot cover, has been pestered with laughing reactions from Vietnamese-sounding accounts, his camp said.

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They said the apparent trolling was proof that there were people behind a smear campaign against him. 

“Ang apela ko rin sa Comelec, sana mapag-aralan ng Comelec ano pa ang pwe-pwedeng gawin para makontrol itong massive disinformation, massive trolling and bashing na nagaganap sa social media,” he said in a statement.

“Maybe Comelec can call, sit down with Meta, sit down with TikTok and come up with a Memorandum of Agreement of some sorts so that between now and election campaign day that there will be coordination and cooperation in addressing disinformation, bashing, and trolling online,” Pangilinan said.

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