This photo illustration created on January 7, 2025, in Washington, DC, shows an image of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and an image of the Meta logo. Drew Angerer, AFP/FileMANILA — Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc are calling on social media platforms to be more accountable for content posted on its platform following the House Tri Committee Hearing on Tuesday.   

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ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro on Wednesday said she is in favor of self-regulation of platforms, underscoring the need to study the proposed regulatory body to create a code of ethics for social media. 

However, she said it's important to hold the platforms accountable for the content being posted on their sites.

"Kaya nga ang kunteriya namin diba yung accountability, responsibility nung mga platform like yung Meta, yung TikTok na yan. Baka sila, nasa kanila naman yung control at kumikita sila diyan," she said in a phone interview. 

"Pinagkakakitaan nila yung mga disinformation. Kasi pag na-sensationalize yan, maraming views, maraming, kumikita yung blogger, kumikita rin sila by means of advertisement. Kaya sila yung dapat na [inaudible] o kaya i-regulate," Castro added.

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Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said she was not satisfied with the answers of representatives of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, who attended the hearing on Tuesday.   

The lawmaker thought they would hear improvements to their mechanism on handling false content or misinformation. 

"Gusto namin magkaroon ng greater responsibility yung Meta as a tech conglomerate, with technical expertise at may resources for instituting stronger and proactive protection mechanisms," she said.  

Brosas questioned why Meta is not taking some responsibility for content is posted on their platform. 

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"Parang sa mga users, mga information ecosystem natin, mas yung maging accountable talaga, no? Maging accountable yung mga gumagawa ng red tagging and disinformation. Tapos dahil sa platform ng Meta yun, or Facebook halimbawa, pumapasok, hindi ba dapat mas sila talaga yung, parang hindi sila dapat maghugas kamay," she said.  

"Sa kanila pumapasok yung ganong ano eh. Kahit pa sinasabi nila na platform lang sila, hindi naman sila ang content creator, responsible pa rin sila. Kasi diba, this are all happening sa platform mismo nila," the lawmaker added.

Brosas also noted how Meta uses artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its content moderation, but this could also be used to spread misinformation. 

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel acknowledged Meta's efforts to combat false content and misinformation, but said it's not enough.   

"When it comes to disinformation, we address the root causes. Kasama diyan yung mga troll farms, tapos yung paggamit nila ng mga platforms, tapos kung sino din yung mga mukha, yung mga nasa facade ng mga disinformation operations. So yun yung mga dapat talagang tumbukin ng pamahalaan," he said.  

"Kaya kailangang balikan talaga yung mga major players dun sa pagkalat ng ganong mga bagay," Manuel said.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop on Tuesday questioned Meta representatives in the House panel's fourth hearing on its accountability for false content on its platform. 

Meta did not give a direct answer to the lawmaker's queries, but said they balance the freedom of speech and creating safe space for users.

The platform's representatives also said they rely on third party fact-checkers to determine misinformation, in a bid to stay neutral.

Meta expressed support for discussions with Congress on crafting a legislation on these issues.

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