MANILA — The Presidential Communications Office and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center have signed a partnership agreement to further strengthen the government’s campaign against fake news.

According to CICC Undersecretary Alex Ramos, the agreement includes the establishment of a multisectoral campaign to “empower the public and various schools, institutions, stakeholders to decisively combat proliferation of deepfakes and disinformation.”

The PCO will lead the creation of a National Deepfake Task Force in coordination with the CICC, as well as with the DICT, NBI and other government offices to address disinformation drives against the government and individuals in the country, Ramos said.

"Masyadong bastardized na ang ating social media and we have to address it – and this is one of the concrete actions we’re taking,” he said.

To support civil society organizations in the promotion of media literacy, fact-checking and combating disinformation, the CICC will also be distributing to stakeholders a tool that will help users identify deepfake content within 30 seconds.

“So, ito ho ay idi-distribute natin ‘no through an accreditation process. Hindi na ho natin isi-centralize ang pag-decide whether it’s deepfake or not, we would like to have a community standard for this, independent fact-checking na ibibigay natin sa civil society,” he said.

“Lahat ho ito ay ginagawa natin para proteksiyunan ang integridad, ang kalidad ng ating nalalapit na eleksiyon. Let the true will of the people prevail. O, iyan po ang ating gustong ma-establish for this memorandum of agreement.”

Ramos hopes that the tool will help stakeholders such as the PPCRV, NAMFREL, universities to combat disinformation using deepfake technology especially during the election period.

“It’s an application that we are giving out to accredited partners. Ano ho ‘to, wala ho tayong pinipili that’s why we’re target independent fact-checkers. Hindi ho gobyerno ang magsasabi, iyong community mismo magsasabi, “This is a deepfake,”” he said.

Meanwhile, the CICC encourages the public to report fake news using deepfake through its dedicated hotline number 1326. “You can also use the eGovApp, mayroon tayong eReport where you can send the link. Don’t send the content; send the link and then a short narrative that would allow us to look at it,” he said.