House to summon FB, Twitter execs

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives will soon summon officers of social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said yesterday the officers would be invited to a hearing on his bill that seeks to regulate social media.

He said even before the House could conduct a hearing, representatives of some social media networks have conveyed to him their readiness to cooperate in the formulation of a regulatory measure.

They realize the need for a law that would prevent abuses like identity theft and spreading of rumors, he added.

Alvarez bared that he was himself a victim of a bogus Facebook account before the May 2016 elections.

He said someone created an account using his name and made posts that put him in bad light.

“When I complained, Facebook wanted to ascertain my identity. I told them that the process should be the other way around, that they should have ascertained the identity of their client before they allowed him to open an account,” he said.

Alvarez filed Bill 5021, the proposed Social Media Regulation Act. Under the bill, every social media user “must observe a responsible and fair exercise of his right to free expression and opinion.”

“He is, however, prohibited from opening an account for his online presence using someone else’s identity and present himself to the online world as that person whom he is not,” the measure provides.

It also makes social media networks responsible for ascertaining the veracity of the identity of a user of their platform.

Violators would face imprisonment of six years to 12 years and a fine of P30,000 to P50,000.

Bill 5021 defines social media as “any electronic medium that allows interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas, including but not limited to uploading or downloading videos, still photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, instant messages, electronic mail or Internet website profiles or locations.”

Alvarez also filed a resolution asking the House to inquire into why social media networks have failed to check on the identity of their users.

Such failure has resulted in the prevalence of “fake, malicious and spurious social media accounts,” he said.